Don't Be Afraid of the Dark - NEVER Make Fun Of The Pirate
by Warrior-of-Darkness015
Summary: The X-Teens/New Mutants seem to love making a joke of Dartz being a real live Pirate...and not a Pirates of the Caribbean refrence...so he decides to get even with them his way no matter what anyone has to say about it. DartzxKitty and a few other odd pairings
1. Chapter 1

**Don't Be Afraid of the Dark - NEVER Make Fun Of The Pirate!**

 **Chapter 1**

 **The X-Teens/New Mutants seem to love making a joke of Dartz being a real live Pirate...and not a Pirates of the Caribbean refrence...so he decides to get even with them his way no matter what anyone has to say about it**

Dartz was currently chasing Jubilee, who he found had stolen one of his axes simply because he didn't like sharing any of his personal belongings "Jubilation!" He snarled as he tried not to get angry with them but this was the last of several last straws

Dartz tried to catch the young mutant but he was half blind as it was because of her unique powers and was quick on her feet with both his axes in her grasp, using gloves to keep her from being driven...you know...berserk and attack anything in sight as it did with anyone who held it but Dartz

"I don't think so, Dartz...you need to loosen up a little" Jubilee said quite happy with herself that she can outrun the Ghoul, but it wasn't lasting as Dartz was very tired of playing around as he caught her and held her in the air, he'd usually ground her and those responsible...Bobby, Scott...of all people, Evan and Kurt but thought of a much more evil punishment as he took his axes from her and dropped her on her butt without another word along with a glare that could burn holes through people

She was confused, because Dartz usually would let her have it for the pranks they pulled on him...he generally didn't give a shit if they pranked anyone else and while he didn't hate them, he did hate those damned pranks

Dartz knew she was following him and grinned even wider as he made it to Taeger's room "Oy, Taeger...I was thinking of us going out on a field trip"

"That had better not be yer reason for beating my door down, Dartz-san...and what would that have to do with me?" Taeger growled as he glared at Dartz who gave him a look that could kill "I need to get into contact with Cap'n Baccus...and ye don't _have_ to come along...I'll be gone fer a few days though and those brats can't find out yet"

"How long are we talkin' here...and why so adamant to rejoin the Black Fang crew?" Taeger asks suspiciously as Dartz snarled, his patience growing thin "Look, I won't let Voorhees disect 'em like science experiments...depending on my mood and _their_ overall behaviour...what day is today, by the way?"

 _'Kyō no nichiyōbi... Naze?'_ (Today's Sunday...why?) Taeger asks as Dartz grinned "Perfect...We'll be gone fer two whole weeks if things go as planned and we ain't gonna 'ave any more stale Pirate puns, if they value life and limb"

 _'Watashi wa sono saigo no bubun o kyatchi shite inai...'_ (I didn't catch that last part...) Taeger said as Dartz was already out the door "What last part?"

Dartz hurried off to Bane's room next "Oy, Asakura!" He said from the halls as both Bane and Tsume answered "What?!"

"Not you, woman!" Dartz snarled as his anger was shortlived as he caught Bane leaving his room "Call. Azazel. Now." He said simply

"What for?" Bane asks curiously as Dartz explained "I'm planning a trip..."

Bane was about to open his mouth when Dartz growled _"No,_ Asakura...this ain't yer kind of adventure and yer not coming...I don't care how many times ya ask"

"Fine..." Bane pouted as he went over to his mirror, not seeing much of a choice and fogged it up with his breath, writing Azazel backwards which caused the mirror to glow faintly "Azazel-sama..."

"Oy, is that spell exclusive fer if ye only want to talk to 'zazel...and if not, can I _borrow_ it?" Dartz asks as Bane shushes him, much to his impatience

"What do you want?" A large muscular demon with burnt looking skin and hollow eyes that showed nothing but a flickering flame for an eye that was big enough to be seen from both eyes as Dartz said "It's Bane an' Dartz, we want Azazel...not ye, ya Duskull" Dartz remarked the demon's uncanny appearence to a Pokémon

"How many times do I got to tell ya, Pirate...that I am NOT A FREAKING DUSKULL?!" The Demon, Azar said...he really had a default calm emotion despite his ability to feed off of any negative emotions around him, he's also extremely hard to kill even by Demon Lord standards and while he was dangerous, he wasn't even remotely one of Azazel's most dangerous demons, he was a very powerful Arch-Demon, just like all the Demons possessing Michael Darkstone though they are only slightly out of his league due to not being as lazy as he left with "Gimme a minute..."

"Lord Azazel..." Dartz heard the demon calling out as he left wherever they were seeing him from and surely Azazel took his place "Yes, Bane?"

Azazel seemed restless as Bane said "I'm actually not the one who would like to speak with you...it's Dartz-sama...you remember my bodyguard, right?"

"Yes yes, Asakura...what does he _want_ though?" Azazel asks as Bane could tell his annoyance was growing as Dartz got straight to the point "yeah, that spell Bane used to call ye...can I use it to call someone else who ain't really cellphone savvy?"

"Yes..as long as you know each other's names" Azazel says, now practically radiating boredom "Is that all...?"

"Yeah...that's all" Dartz said happily as he left for his room to try it as Azazel asks Bane "What's got him so happy...especially when he's almost _never_ happy enough to make others actually aware of it?"

"He's not happy, he's actually really pissed...he's going back to his crew for a while to knock your son and his friends down a peg or two...they've been making fun of him as a Pirate and got a bit carried away"

"I see...should I intervene?" Azazel asks as Bane glared at him "Stay out of it for your own good...we both know Dartz' pride isn't something to be trifled with and they need to be taught a lesson anyway by all the Pirate puns I can hear from just about anywhere I am in the mansion, if you ask me"

Azazel shook his head as he disappeared from Bane's mirror as Bane said to himself with a sigh of relief "I just hope he doesn't make me regret telling you off from getting involved...Azazel-sama"

 **Dartz makes it back to his room and quickly does as Bane did, but writing 'Baccus' in place of 'Azazel' on his fogged mirror...**

That was until he heard someone swearing in Esperanto, a language that no one in the mansion, other than Dartz himself knew _'Hej, ĉu la kapitano scias, ke vi uzas tiun lingvon en sia ŝipo?'_ (Hey, does the captain know you use that kind of language on his ship?)

The Orc, Quinlan almost jumped out of his skin at the sound of a voice he thought he'd never hear again in his lifetime as he cleaned the Captain's quarters as he turned and gasped _'Ĉu vi, sinjoro Dartz ... kuraĝas, ke vi tuj supreniros kaj ne diros al mi ion?'_ (Is that you, Mr. Dartz...how dare you just up and leave and not tell me anything?)

"What're ya doin' in the Cap'n's quarters and where is he?" Dartz asks as Baccus' voice said "I'm here, Dartz-sama...ye think I don't know about this spell...how's Bane doin'?"

"Yeah, Bane's fine...got any space on the brig fer me an' a couple despicable deckhands?" Dartz asks getting straight to the point, a habit of his especially when he's annoyed, as Baccus replied as he came into full view, standing at only a few feet taller than Dartz "Always..."

"So...is this the room you were given 'ere, Dartz-san?" Baccus asks looking around the room in slight awe as Dartz said with a proud grin "Yeah...nice, huh...and I even got a free Coffee Machine from my Kitten as a welcoming gift" Dartz was one of the Ghouls who neither absolutely loved nor absolutely hated Coffee, depending on his mood and preferred alcohol over coffee most times

Dartz could almost hear a record scratch awkwardly at the look Baccus gave at the word 'Kitten' as soon as it came out of his mouth _'Anata no koneko?'_ (Your Kitten?) He asked slowly with a look on his face as he was both expecting and not expecting his first mate to find several lovers at the mansion as Dartz said, almost childishly "Don't give me that expression, Cap'n...you'll meet her when I get there, I gotta go"

"See ya then..." Baccus said with the same expression as when Dartz said 'Kitten' as he disappeared from the mirror

* * *

 **Dartz decided to call a meeting of all the adult Mutants and Ghouls in the mansion...some faces he was delighted to see while some he would be much more delighted if he could never see again**

"Any idea why we're here, _Kemono-san_ (Beast)?" Bane asks Beast as he replied "Your guess is as good as mine, Bane"

"Oy, that's odd...where's Dartz-sama at?" Taeger asks as almost everyone shrugged

Logan was there, beside Xavier...Logan had heard right from Michael Darkstone himself the kind of men Xavier and Magneto were...how they were pressuring him into joining either of their sides against the other simply because of how powerful he was...reminded Logan of his own and Jean's first and quite similar first meeting with Charles and Logan's relationship with him was almost nonexistent now as Dartz had ripped half of his left leg off in an angry outrage...Dartz never had much to do with him to begin with, due to his nature of not being so quick to trust others, especially upon just meeting them

Logan stopped the Pirate...as much as he didn't want to...from killing him then and there and Logan has never spoken to anyone since or gotten near Xavier as he got the point and moved away from the heartbroken feral, Logan still would defend Xavier's life where no one else would but his time in the mansion running short, Xavier found every reason to keep him there because it was no secret, that if he left, he was never coming back...he wasn't doing it because he forgave Xavier, but because keeping him alive was a much better punishment than killing him...for now and the students shouldn't be made to suffer any more than they already have because of him

Logan grumbled as he turned to leave but Kakuzu stopped him with a hand on his shoulder as the claws immediately came out "Wait...please"

Logan snarled "Don't touch me...I am not staying in the same room as _him_...or so help me-" Logan pointed at Xavier accusingly as tears appeared in his eyes and Kakuzu lets him go but he finds that they're locked in as more of Logan's pent up anger came to the surface "Dartz...open this goddamn door before I rip it off and beat ya to death with it!"

"Hear me out first, matey...I promise to make it worth yer while" Dartz said shrewdly as he suddenly appeared before the group with his head slightly down "Those kids o' yours...I know about the promise we made in order to stay here an' all...but I don't think I'll be able to restrain myself with these Pirate jokes...half o' which don't even make sense"

" _That's_ what this is about...jokes?" Scar asked as Dartz said "that's why I made this decision to go back to Baccus fer a while..." this shocked everyone but that wasn't all

"Those twats are gonna learn the hard way...they're comin' with me" Dartz says as Logan swings at him but couldn't touch him as he caught his arm and looked him dead in the eye "They're gonna learn..don't worry, Logan...I'll leave their lives in good hands, their own, cuz my tolerance of these jokes are at a very real all time low right now, to the point where it'll scar my pride if I _don't_ do somethin' about it, then somethin' else might end up scarred, which I bet we _both_ don't want...I still have great tolerance unlike the other Black Fangs however"

Xavier was about to protest, but Dartz wasn't having any of that as he backhands him and sends him flying out of his wheelchair "Who the hell do ye think ya are...the decision's already been made...I don't need the permission of a traitor to do anything around here, I thought I made that clear with yer leg!"

"I WANT MY LEG BACK, YOU MONSTER!" Xavier snarled as Dartz came his way and he struggled to get away from him as he grinned threateningly at the quivering headmaster "Aw...I a'ready ate it, yer arms are next...start gettin' the idea that I'm ever going to listen to ye outta yer head _fast_ "

"Dartz...that's enough" a voice said as a reclusive Orc came into the room, he was a wanderer named Grimm who had orange on black eyes, dark green skin and bald head covered by a white bandana...Dartz wasn't sure if the young Orc was trying to immitate him or not

He was fit for nearly 200 years old...still moderately young for a Orc but not a child, he has the potential to have the abilities of both Orc and Mutant abilities simply because he had family/distant ancestors who were either Orc or Mutant and his late mother also being a mutant...he's also very important to Dartz because he was one of the many abandoned, discarded and/or unwanted children of another very important person to Dartz...named Voorhees

He wants nothing to do with Voorhees however, even less with his siblings numbering in the hundreds...he would likely kill his father or any of his kin if they crossed paths

He understood how much the Orc he refuses to consider his father was not only far stronger than him, but was also very, very, extremely sadistic in nature and he wanted to tag along with Dartz but didn't ask, not wanting the Pirate to worry about him as he got Dartz' attention "I know you're going to see my...father"

"And...?" Dartz asked knowing he either had more to say or wanted to come along, something Dartz won't allow "I told ya what he's like in _horrific_ detail, yet ye still wanna see him...knowing ya have no chance of winning a fight or even leaving said fight alive against him?"

"Yeah, but only to confirm that he actually exists" Grimm said as Dartz walked away "Fine...as long as ye have a way of watchin' from afar without him knowing or worse...being able to get ya within reach...he's not a threat you can handle when he's angry yet"

Grimm already knew how terrible it would be getting anywhere near Voorhees, that's why he's been so obsessed about the Blackbird and had begged Logan to teach him everything about it to the point where he could use it on his own...Forge, another of the newest to him mutants at the mansion, even helped him build a version of the Blackbird suited to not just his colossal size but even attuned to his magic as well

"My father...a _threat_?" Grimm said, he was young by his kind's terms but he was much stronger, larger and smarter than any adult human...he wasn't foolish enough to think he could even get the drop on his father without severe repercussions but he had to know why he was still an Orc Chief in the first place despite how evil he was percieved to be as Dartz said "You don't have it in ya...I can see it that you can't kill him even if you were strong enough to even approach him, much less do it and ye 'ave every single right to be terrified cuz I can't beat him either and ye can't even beat me yet, so ye got a long way to go before I let ye face Voors...hard to imagine, ain't it?"

"This guy is that powerful?" Logan asked as Dartz admitted with a nod "Aye, we fought for nearly four days straight to a standstill when it got on our Cap'n's last nerve and neither of us lost any vigor...he's never gonna try makin' a guinea pig outta me again, that's fer sure but I doubt he's really weaker than the Cap'n as he says he is"

"Why would you say that?" Bane said, naturally curious as Dartz explained "Cuz I'm stronger than the Cap'n...have been since I was a child, probably my teens and he nearly _killed_ me without even fighting seriously enough a couple times before"..

* * *

 **.The next morning, with the help of Taeger, Bane and Kakuzu...Dartz wakes up the teens (rudely if they had to) at 3 A.M before the sun was even up**

"Oy, Berserk-kun... _Mewosamasu_ (wake up)" Kakuzu entered Berserker's room as he lifted and tossed him out of bed as he replied "Hey, what a rude awakening!"

"I tried it nicely and it didn't work...not my fault" Kakuzu said in his defence "you don't wanna be late for your trip or keep Dartz-san waiting, do you?"

"I can send him to wake you himself" Kakuzu narrowed his eyes to see Kurt, Kitty, Rogue and Amara walking out of their rooms stiffly, controlled by Bane's shadows and Yang throwing Spyke and Multiple's many clones out of their rooms as he drags Piotr out, still half asleep and in his metal form

"Do they need to pack anything, Dartz-san?" Yang asks as he walks out with one of the newest mutants, Chase Long aka Beastkin and a rather displeased looking X-23 as Dartz said, far more annoyed than any of them could even fathom right now "No...just change outta yer panjamas"

He looked at Berserker, who was almost nude and tapped his head as he tried to hide himself "I wouldn't recommend sleeping like _that_ where we're goin'...ye ain't too young to get sodomized or worse and ya _don't_ to give 'em any ideas"

"Worse...what could be worse than _that_?" Berserker asks as Dartz grinned like a shark "I'll leave that to yer imaginations...or worst nightmares"

* * *

 **Dartz and the tired mutants leave for the port immediately, once there it was only a matter of patience...**

Dartz sat near the edge of the sea port and meditated...something the mutants have seen all the Ghouls do except him as an eerie fog sets in as they could see the shadows of at least 100 ships in the distant fog, the largest of which came right up beside them

"I think we found 'em, Capitan" a voice said as Dartz opened his eyes and used Wind magic to clear the fog to reveal a large ship right infront of them as Berserker and Multple both said at the same time "Whoa..."

Dartz grabbed the two in a mean wedgie "This ain't no warning, boys...it's a threat...where yer assigned, ya stay until I decide we're goin' back and I'll say it again if ya thought this was a joke the last time I said it, Pirate jokes will cost ye more than yer life on these ships and I'm not helping any o' ya until I'm satisfied...that goes fer everyone, got it?"

"Yes, sir" Everyone said as the crew came to see what all the ruckus was about, all but the Captain came to see what was going on "Whatcha got there, Master Dartz?" Voorhees asks, the Orc wore a grin on his face as he saw some of the teens' expressions

"New recruits...Where's the Cap'n at?" Dartz asks as Rat pointed back "Oh, he's here...somewhere about"

"Let us on then..." Dartz said as Berserker poked and pointed at Voorhees, who was watching to see who was the unlucky fool that would be stuck with him "Hey, is that Grimm's dad...why is he looking at us like a huge meal?"

"Ask him yerself, he's right there, ain't he?" Dartz said as Voorhees heard him and landed before Berserker with one leap "Ask me what?"

"Are those tusks...like hogs and elephants?" Multiple asks earning a deadly glare but an answer "They're canines, brat and where do you get off call my canines tusks anyway?...there's very few Orcs you'd see that don't have them unless they haven't grown in yet"

 _'Mendokusē'_ (What a drag) Ulysses chimes in as he leaned against one of the sails with his arms folded and a bored expression with his eyes on the X-Teens, he was never quick to trust anyone upon first meeting them _'Anata wa neko o kowagatte, vu~ōruhyesu-san... Kare wa sudeni'_ (Your scaring the brat, Voorhees-san...leave him be already)

"Aw, hush up...I only wanted a closer look" Voorhees said as he jumped back to the ship, they were all bored as the teens all walked on a board bridge onto the ship with Dartz right behind them

"How about we introduce ourselves..." Dartz says as Voorhees points at Multiple "You first..." his complaining about the kind of attention he was getting from especially Voorhees also got the Captain's attention "Oy, who in the hell's fighting on my goddamn ship?!" Baccus snarls as the X-Men were caught like a deer in the headlights and Multiple accidentally stumbled right into the angry captain

Baccus was much scarier up close as he was taller than Dartz and Rat but shorter than almost all the others with snow white hair that is almost never entirely seen in any other way beside is long ponytail, he wore baggy cargo pants with many pockets with a grey vest covered by the most expensive looking thing on him a light purple haori with real gold trim.

Baccus demanded respect, but he also gave respect where it was due and right now he was pissed and a force no one wants to mess with right now _'Watashi wa korera no fune no senchō de, anata wa anata ga anatada to omotte imasu... Watashi wa seichōshita otona kara noso no yōna burei o yōnin shinai to wakarimasu ka?'_ (I'm the captain of these vessels, who do you think you are...do you realize that I don't tolerate that kind of disrespect from grown adults...much less children?)

"I'm Baccus...you...girl" Baccus suddenly pointed at X-23 "I'll turn this ship around this instant and go back an' drop ya'll off at that dock, but under one circumstance...if ye fight me and win, that is"

Laura was one of the best hand to hand fighters among them, outside of Logan himself but that didn't boost her confidence against Baccus as she popped her claws and went in.

Baccus dodged her every attack without the use of his Kakugan and with so much ease that he might as well had taught her those moves "She's winning!" Berserker says as Voorhees shot him down with "The Cap'n seems to be enjoying this a bit too much...he's toying with the poor girl, if the only one of us that could even hit him was Dartz, she's screwed and she knows it"

Berserker looked and didn't seem to see what the Orc was talking about until she was sent flying back with one punch to the gut into one of the sails as she landed on the ground "I win and yer not settin' foot off this ship unless Dartz is headin' back or it's through Voorhees...an' none o' this goin' home bullcrap, got that...I just ain't in the mood for belly achin' today" Voorhees grinned like the devil at the prospect that he could do as he pleased with any deserters who even tries to walk the plank

Baccus then took out a feather pen and a paper as he took the names of his new shipmates "Gimme yer names...whoever is yer partner will also be yer cabinmate"

"Berserker and she's X-23" Berserker chirped pointing at himself and a still fuming Laura as Baccus warned with a glare "I'll take Laura-chan but yer hardly a Berserker, if I've ever seen one...I want the name yer mother gave ya, no codenames here"

"Ray Crisp..." Dartz said, having memorized all their names as he pointed them out "Jean Grey, Katherine Pryde...put her with me, please...Scott Summers, Voorhees will have a field day with that little prick, Kurt Wagner, Anna-Marie, Tabitha Smith, Amara Aquilla, Bobby Drake, Sam Gurthie, Rahne Sincair, Roberto Da Costa, Jubilation Lee, Piotr 'Peter' Rasputin, Remy LeBeau, Chase Long and I'm sure ya know Jamie Maddrox by now"

"Oy, Dartz...Is this the little Bechamel I'll be taking?" Quinlan suddenly appears behind Kitty and puts his arms around her with a purr, you could smell the alcohol on him long before ever seeing him, which wasn't normal as he wasn't a heavy drinker as much as Dartz...he was easily the lightest drinker on the Crew currently as Dartz quickly pulls her to him "She's with me, Quin...buzz off and Cap'n can have the Cajun, even if I don't trust letting him out of my sight" Remy tried to steal from Dartz on several occasions and failed, he also saw a glint in the Cajun's eye upon seeing some of Gedharm's trinkets

"Quinlan, get on the other side _now_ " Baccus ordered as the Orc flinched "Aye aye, Captain"

"I wonder if we should wait for someone else to come...two certain people are freakin' late anyway" Gedharm asks as Dartz says "What's the point...ya come late, ya lose out and they'll be 'ere long enough to meet 'em all eventually"

 **That's when Hunter Gilliam appeared, he was a mysterious and unscrupulous person in a strange armor he refuses to remove and he seems to have found some stragglers that somehow hopped onboard just before they left with Dartz**

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Captain...but I found these stragglers onboard on of the other ships" Hunter said as threw three youngsters to the ground before them without any concern if he was rough with them "I believe they're mutants, a rather unintelligent human calling a Ghoul his master...and a spawn of Orochimaru"

It was Renji, Chase Cyclonis/Cobrax, James Scotland/Upgrade and Renji's less than pleased master, Komamura who came out of nowhere "Oy, that's my baka-prentise you're messing with, scumbag!"

Ike punched where Hunter stood, but he dodged much faster than the Binge Eater could hit him "I'm the only one allowed to call him stupid for no reason"

"K-Komamura-san?" Baccus stumbled a bit as Ike looked at him "So you're the idiot captain of this bunch of morons...Baccus-sama?"

"Wait, ye know each other?" Dartz asks as Baccus said "We go way back...we were once brothers by a certain cause...Lazarus"

The X-Men don't know who Lazarus is because Baccus and Komamura - albeit a completely berserk and wild Komamura in his full wolf form - was able to beat him and force him into solitary confinement in the Crypt, but they nearly died in the process and Komamura has never gone full wolf since then as he still can't control it, if that's even possible anymore...Lazarus was that strong and they already knew that it was partly Kami's manipulation and torment as well as Lazarus no longer wishing to have any control was why Laz was so powerful and dangerous

Dartz knew about Lazarus from Baccus mentioning him before and even comparing Dartz' power and personality to his, a far tamer version but a happier one despite Dartz' life being one of the worst and least happy lives a Ghoul could have despite the optomistic nature he has about how he ended up accepting it

Baccus looked at the parchment he wrote the names on "Let me be very clear...anyone who deviates from where I put them is not going to like how angry I'll get...that goes fer everyone on this ship, I hope I'm very clear on that" he glared around as he assigned the mutants to who they would be living with

"Voorhees-sama..." he began as Voorhees licked his lips and looked at his captain with a slight groan "Ye gets Summers and Upgrade"

"Aye...come" Voorhees simply ordered the two to follow him as Scott refused to move, causing Voorhees to look back with a massive wave of Killing Intent that petrified all the students but Laura as Scott snarled "I won't go with him...anyone but him and Dartz"

This only made Voorhees' intent to kill him stronger until someone got enough as he turned to a swift fist to the face from Laura that knocked him over to Vorhees' feet "Move it, Summers or so help me, these pirates are gonna have to peel me off what's left of you!"

That had Scott scurrying behind the Orc Chief in hopes of being as far as possible from X-23, Vorhees smirked at her...thinking that Dartz' attitude may have rubbed off on her a bit, his respect was starting to grow for her but not to the point of him being friendly with any mutants yet "You...can visit my quarters to see how their first day is going if you like...drag your feet and I'll hurt you, kid" Vorhees looked at the sky for a moment, swearing he saw a high tech aircraft uncloak for merely a few seconds, but was gone after a while...as was his interest in whatever it was

Laura watched as Upgrade helped him to his feet and went after Voorhees as Scott glared at her but kept his mouth shut

"Grey, Amara, Rasputin...yer stayin' with Gedharm" Baccus continued as Gedharm tried to complain, not about who was staying with him, but about accomodation as his Cabin was usually littered with parchments, books and whatnot about his field of Archeology "Uh, Cap'n..my quarters are a bit jammed for space right now"

"Then ya have a few extra hands to get things in shape, Gedharm..." Baccus said simply as Gedharm shrugged "If you say so...this way"

"You seem more gentle than that other Orc..." Piotr replied as Gedharm looked back with a grin "That might be because he wants to harvest your organs, if he gets the chance...and I don't. Don't take anything on these ships at face value, especially from that old man"

"I'm sure one of the persons responsible for Dartz being so mad at us is with him right now" Amara adds

"Renji-san, Jubilation, Cyclonis" Baccus salid as he looked at them "Go with Ulysses"

Ulysses made a face as four persons made their way to him as he shot Kommamura a look until he clarified "Where my apprentice goes, I go...and I don't trust any Ghouls alone with him...deal with it"

"Hn" Ulysses kept giving Ike this look like he knew him from somewhere...as he saw his calm, but focussed and intimidating eyes...especially around a certain human as he said "Oy, Rat...I'll trade ya the human fer someone else"

Rat was about to agree until Ike silently dared him to from the corner of his suddenly hungry looking eyes as Rat trembled "I'll pass...I may be a good fighter but he looks like he'd kill us all on a whim as it is"

"How weak...and they say don't underestimate a human" Kommamura closed his eyes for a moment "you want him, you _get_ me...no exceptions"

"Don't cause such a ruckus, White Wolf...or I might just have to kill you on the spot as a warning to any others" Baccus says, he remembered who Kommamura was and even idolized him at one point as Kommamura grinned almost too sarcastically "Don't make me sound so old in front of my baka-prentice, Baccus-san...especially when I'm still much older than you"

"Yer the one makin' yerself sound old here" Baccus says while laughing, which confused Pirate and X-Man alike, especially Dartz

Kommamura has gotten on Dartz' nerves since he first joined the X-Men...they openly despised one another and Renji quickly learned to avoid Dartz like the plague as he's attempted to purpously eat him on his first night, causing him to duke it out with the protective Ghoul...then, Ike dropped the bomb on why they found each other so familiar...Kommamura was there the night Dartz' family was massacred by Humans

Kommamura still had much more evil in his heart and was only beaten to his prey by the humans...but the young, vengeful Dartz tracked him down anyway with tracking abilities he never knew he even had.

Dartz attacked with a vengeance but Ike showed the younger Ghoul no mercy and beat him to the very brink of death and Dartz lost his memory on most of what happened but never forgot Kommamura's scent. The two of them stuck in the middle of the ocean with each other was simply asking for trouble and it may be partly why he's been turned off from having anything to do with a Ghoul as an apprentice...something Dartz openly calls him a hypocrite for doing

"Hunter Gilliam...Rat...Udon" Baccus says as he said "Gilliam, ye can have Crisp and Rahne"

Ray looked at Gilliam who was not as bothered as Scott or some of the other Pirates about which of the X-Men he'd be with and didn't seem like one to complain, even when he and Rahne came beside him with curious looks...

"Don't touch the face, kids...we are in no hurry" Gilliam said as he wasn't leaving yet, all the mutants intrigued him and he was the least fond of troublemakers as he said "I wanna see who goes where"

He saw a girl beside the Captain, X-23 and Kitty beside Dartz as he summoned his large sword and growled at X-23 "Hey, stay away from the Captain and the First Mate, you two...I'll be watching all of you closely"

Kitty shrank behind Dartz, but X-23 simply popped her claws until Baccus put an arm in her way "Don't...ye won't last long enough to even whet his bloodlust"

"I will get my chance to play with you, don't worry..." Gilliam seems to have been watching her fight the Captain as he continued

"Kurt-san..." Baccus looked at the Elf with a look that said he knew more about him than anyone other than Dartz, Bane and Azazel as he replied very respectfully, afraid of even slightly making Baccus even think of being offended in any way "Ja, Captain?"

Baccus smiled at him "Yer with Rat...ye have no reason to be so scared...he's human and no one here will hurt ya unless they _really_ wanna piss me off...Is there a need fer me to show what happens when I'm mad again?"

"No..." Kurt replies as Baccus was quickly disgusted by his fear and placed a hand on his head as he got slightly threatening "Wipe that look of fear off yer face...never show fear to me or I'll intentionally give ya a reason to fight someone...like Voorhees" he could read Kurt like a book as he saw Voorhees standing at the door of his quarters, looking at the sky before glaring right at Kurt's eyes while cracking his knuckles, making a sound that made Kurt wince...Kurt was more than determined to prove himself however, which even Voorhees saw and comments "That's what I'm talkin' about...I don't care which cabin you're in, I wanna train with ya...be out here before midnight and don't make me come lookin' for ya or I'll make Dartz really pissed if I find ya" Kurt smiled despite how terrified he was as Voorhees saluted to him and went back into his cabin

Baccus then smiled at him "If ye don't have it in ya to stand up fer yerself against anyone on this crew, including me, I'll throw ya overboard myself"

Kurt then went over to Rat, wondering what he'd do if he swung at Baccus and then had to fight the likes of Dartz, Hunter and, Gods forbid, Voorhees as well as Baccus himself as he noticed Hunter staring at him "don't worry, Elf...we don't intervene on any fights our knuckleheaded Captain picks or we might earn his wrath instead" he explained as Kurt met Rat

"Udon...ye have Anna-Marie and Sam" Baccus gave the two a 'move it or else' glare to move it over to Udon who lifted Rogue into the air with two fingers "Uh, Captain..."

"Udon, is there a problem?" Baccus asks as Udon replied "Are ya sure about putting this string bean with me?"

"Is there a problem accomodation wise?" Baccus asks as Udon said "Of course you know that's never the problem...I just doubt she'll survive very long" he kept gesturing at Rogue

"Excuse me?" Rogue asks with a lot of attitude but Udon ignores her as she slipped one of her gloves off and touched his face as he dropped her and fell to the ground, dizzy but still wide awake as Rogue jumped at him, swearing like a sailor in Orcish

"Hey...don't you dare swear on this ship in Orcish, brat or I will personally kick your ass and I don't care who on this ship I have to go through!" Callis, a student of Udon's that was also an Orc - the youngest, least experienced but toughest (in his own mind only) of the Orcs on the crew but the one with the most potential - with dark brown skin and wore tan pants and only remnants of a shirt showing his bone necklace, a ring of similar make on his left middle finger and smaller canines sticking out of his mouth like all of his kind as he barely missed with a punch at Rogue...he was older than the X-Men but wasn't an adult and could pass as one of their peers by his size and maturity

"That's enough, you two...great, now I have a female version of _him_ to deal with" Udon rolled his eyes at his failed attempt to part the two as Rogue rared up to slap Callis through something as Rogue snarled "You did _not_ just call me a brat when we're practically the same age"

Suddenly, someone cleared their throat in a manner that demanded attention as the two saw Captain Baccus standing before them growling with completely black pupilless eyes

This didn't stop Callis from swinging a kick at the Captain who promptly knocked him out in a heartbeat with one punch "Ye wanna be pickin' fights on my ship...yer both on deck swabbin' duty once dumbass here wakes up" Rogue looked ready to fight him but too afraid of him to even try, after seeing that X-23 wasn't even a match for him and Callis just getting his lights punched out

Baccus' reason for doing this wasn't to scar or make them scared of him, that wasn't a hard feat to accomplish, but to give them a little of the needed backbone to survive and fear truly no one, including him as he shoved Rogue hard enough that she backed into Udon still standing behind her

"Be careful of her deathly touch, Cap'n..." Udon warned as Baccus scowled "Why should I when she's scared of me?"

"The less ya fight back, the less of a threat ye become" Baccus directed this at Rogue, who unlike Laura had a trembling fist at her side until she recalled what Hunter told Laura that not many of them would take such a risk unless they rivalled him in power, which most of them did

Rogue touched Udon again, though not for so long that he'd stagger again as she tries to touch Baccus too, but he avoided it and was sent spinning onto the deck on his back with a force that made Dartz, Rat and Voorhees to come out of their respective quarters to see Baccus on his back

"Oy, Cap'n-" Dartz stopped to notice he was out cold as he gave Rogue a look very close to fear as he took the Captain to his quarters as she looked apologetic and worried

"Hey...don't look so worried...as long as the deck's clean by the time he's back on his feet, he won't be _too_ mad and I'd be quick about it too, if I were you" Udon said, calming Rogue somewhat as he looked at her from the corner of his gray ringed pupils on black sclera, eyes that were no different from any of his kind, but with not as many abilities like a Ghoul's eyes and wasn't nearly as truly blood curdling as Voorhees'

* * *

 **Later that night, Baccus was awake to find the crew had all went to bed but the Ghouls and Dartz sat near the front of the ship looking at the moon...the deck was also clean enough to eat off of, he hadn't seen it so clean in years despite it being cleaned every other day**

"Ye okay there, Cap'n?" Dartz asks as Baccus was still dazed but fine as he replied "I ain't dead yet, Dartz-san...that girl's got quite an arm though"

"Don't underestimate them...they're tougher than they look and my students...when they ain't Taeger's or Bane's" Dartz warns as Kommamura came up behind him, agreeing with Dartz "Baccus, he's right...they're more formidable than they look"

"Never saw ya as the teacher type, Ike-sama..." Baccus smirks at Ike's glare as he replied sharply "I am _NOT_ a teacher at that school...their headmaster isn't to be trusted...not with _my_ life"

Baccus heard what happened...Michael Darkstone left in a state of half-life...neither living nor dead and with no memory of what happened or anything but his own name and Kami Kurosaki met his end at the hands of Bane Asakura, who brought his body back and inherited his will of fire and Amaterasu

Of course, the Ghoul Lords attempted to take Amaterasu, Bane attempted to give them a run for their money saying it was a gift from the good Kami with his dying breath

So far, Dartz and the Black Fangs are the only people other than Bane himself who knows that he had Amaterasu because they knew how much of a hunted Ghoul Bane would be if the world at large knew that Amaterasu didn't die with Kami...some even felt that the black flames were responsible for Kami's fall from grace in the first place, which Dartz found very stupid and ridiculous...since Amaterasu itself was neither good nor evil.

"I've mulled it over and we've agreed to make ourselves a little more known to the populus, Dartz-san...if the humans be ready, at least" Baccus informs Dartz, who looked surprised to say the least

Baccus got up "Well, I'd get back to my quarters if I were ye...wouldn't wanna keep yer Kitten waitin'..."

Dartz ignores him as Baccus noticed the door to Dartz' quarters open and a blushing Pryde spying on them when she should be sleeping

"Go inside, it's very cold out here" Baccus says as even he was starting to feel the drop in temperature, but she seemed more worried about Dartz as she whispered "But, Dartz-"

"Is fine...yer worried 'bout somethin' ya don't need to worry about, he's used to the cold...he's my first mate, after all" Baccus cut her off as she closed the door

* * *

 **A/N -** **So, Rogue manages to knock Baccus out and Baccus knows that Kitty is head over heels for Dartz as the X-Men are a part of the Black Fang crew. How are they going to fare travelling on the high seas and I'll go a bit into Baccus' friendship and how he idolizes Kommamura. R &R**


	2. Chapter 2

**Don't Be Afraid of the Dark - NEVER Make Fun Of The Pirate!**

 **Chapter 2**

 **Evan wakes up in the room of a Pirate with arguably the worst temper on the crew** **who is avoided by some of the crew for that very reason, other than his obsession with fighting and bloodshed...perfect match for the self confident and brave one time leader of the Morlocks...or is it?**

Evan woke up late last night and hasn't slept a wink since then...why?

Well, before him was a man...well, it was male in sex but he didn't think 'man' was the best term to use in the case of this individual who was a humanoid white Tiger who was at least pleasant enough to be wearing clothes, his name was Drakko and he wore a pair of plain brown cargo pants and had a large pair of boots before him as he sat on his bed meditating deeply since late last night as he opened his grey cat-like eyes to see what he considered an intruder

Evan wasn't intimidated by this...Drakko wasn't going to pat himself on the back however as he was trying to scare him away or to death, whichever came first, not just intimidate which he didn't think was going to be an easy feat anyway for him

"Leave...you are not welcome here" Drakko growled even though he seemed calm by his tail resting behind him, albeit uneasy, he felt that peace between Humans and anything that wasn't their kind was going to cause problems especially where power was concerned

He did agree with the late Ghoul Lord, Kami Kurosaki that Humans weren't trustworthy creatures but not enough that they should be eradicated altogether as he believed they were both an asset and a problem

Evan took a step towards Drakko, who glared at him not to get even an inch closer "Your captain won't be happy about that, so I'm planning not to get on his really bad side"

"Make me mad...and the Captain's bad side would be the least of your problems" Drakko warns as senbon shoot from the walls, everywhere but where Evan was at the door at speeds that could amputate limbs

Drakko was unfazed by this however, as he may not be the leader of his people, the Beastkins, yet but he was very well respected and more than powerful enough to be a member of the Black Fang and respected by the whole crew even if they differ in ideals as he serves the King of Beast Spirits, Animus as opposed to God

"That does it!" Spyke snarls as he goes into his armored form and shoots several spikes at Drakko only to notice that they stopped mid air before even making contact along with any senbon that came his way due to having an aura so strong that he could kill beings weaker than him by just being present near them, he is also the only member of the crew that fights only with his bare hands at all times unless threatened to do otherwise by the only two people he fully respects without question...Dartz and the Cap'n

Evan only blinked and Drakko had already moved from feet to inches from him as he said "One gate is all of the total eight it'll take to break every bone in your body without harming a single organ...five gates and it could kill us both, so three should suffice and I won't forgive ya if ya die on me too quickly" he comes in with a palm strike that rips Evan's shirt off even though he blocked it as he was sent out the door and sliding across the deck...everyone also possessed these hidden gates but very few can access even one and Drakko can open 6 of the 8 total before worrying about dying

He was stopped by two others...Jack, a Jackel with all black fur and red eyes and Mello, a Hyena with light brown fur and yellow eyes

"Oy, numbnuts...you got some deathwish making Drakko mad" Mello laughed in an African accent as Jack said in an Egyptian accent "I wonder if he's the only human here...hm, at least he's not as disgusting as Mr. Rat and that horse piss he drinks"

"You two...interfere and I'll tear you a new one first" Drakko charged but stopped when he sensed the Captain's magic in waves as he tossed Evan over his shoulder and went that way before he even had a chance to protest as he tapped a pressure point to knock him out

* * *

 **Drakko made it to the main ship to see most of the crew and their assigned mutants but no sign of the Captain or Kommamura yet...**

Dartz leaned against the wall near his quarters with his arms folded and his bandana on "What the hell is going on here?"

"I see you've met Evan...he better not be dead, mate or I'll make a fur coat outta yer hide" Dartz snarled as Drakko replied as he held Spyke by one leg and shook him as he woke up "He's alive, mate...now, who the hell thought putting _it_ in my cabin while I slept was a great and marvelous idea?"

No one answered, as none of them knew as Dartz looked at the door of the Captain's quarters as Udon said "maybe it was the Cap'n..."

"No one has seen him this morning yet..." Voorhees says as he was the first to notice that someone had changed their intended course "wait...where the fuck are we, Gedharm?"

"We're close to Japan..." Gedharm says as Ulysses adds "...and too far off our originally intended course"

"Oh, I happen to have some rather pleasant words fer a certain former Ghoul Lord..." Dartz says he sensed the captain and looked into the water, he was at the bottom interior of the ship "Oy, Cap'n...ye down there?"

"Aye, I'm down 'ere...I'll be up in a minute" Baccus indeed said from the bottom of the ship, he was looking for a chest with certain items that will help all who weren't a Ghoul or Human to look Human once they were in Tokyo...they did not want to scare the Humans with how they really looked despite none of them caring one bit who they scared with their real forms

Suddenly, Drakko sensed movement behind the door of the Captain's quarters as Dartz grinned savagely despite knowing that he shouldn't because Drakko was very likely to kill someone...being nearly as loyal to Baccus as Dartz was

Laura indeed steps out of the Captain's quarters, as Ulysses said to her "Oy... _Omae_ (You)...you had better not be oversleeping in there"

"...and keeping me waiting..." Voorhees said as he saw that Drakko was giving X-23 a very murderous look, he was the second strongest on the ship that surpassed the Captain, after all...being tied with Voorhees himself both in strength and being sadistic but weaker than Dartz

"Uh oh..." Udon said as Drakko lunged right at X-23, but something got between them at the last second...Kommamura

"Oy, Bakemono...I don't think I can't let ya just kill my favorite super heroine, I hope ya don't take that personally"

"Heh...why do you even care, you and her are as different as predator and prey, am I wrong, Ghoul?" Drakko asks as Kommamura raised an eyebrow and laughed a bit "Yer Chinese...and barely at that, who the hell do you think you are addressin' me as a Bakemono when you can decapitate someone with a single punch"

"I don't need your permission to be fluent in Japanese, Arabic and the other languages I know..." Drakko snarls as he flipped back to where he was "Last time I heard...you can decapitate with a single punch too...rotten Ghoul" Drakko snarls as, outside of the Ghouls among their crew and the very special respect and admiration he has for the Captain and Dartz...he outright loathes Ghouls...Kommamura also tops the list as he has some bad blood between him and the Beastkin Tribes and killed one of their heads in a duel who happened to be Drakko's grandfather shamelessly before the eyes of a young adult Drakko, which only fuelled his hatred of Ghouls and made him turn down his birthright so aggressively that no one dare even speak of it in his presence

"Oy, old man...what're you waiting for to make a rug outta that overgrown house cat, an invitation?!" Renji suddenly snaps as Kommamura scowls at his nerves being tested "Do I need to do everything?"

"Oy, stay out of this...baka-pprentice...go play target practice with Dartz-kun or something" Kommamura snaps "I don't fight your battles...I suggest you don't fight mine"

"Apprentice...?" Drakko asks, slowly turning to give the Human a chilling look "Interesting...and here I thought you Ghouls only chose apprentices amongst your own kind and that's not saying much given who the poor thing's master is being Ike Kommamura, of all people"

"So, yer the one shootin' at me with them arrows all over the mansion...yer grounded fer that and I'll get even once we get back to the mansion" Dartz glares at him, as he hopes that Dartz will forget by the time they're ready to go back to the mansion...Dartz has the best memory among the Ghouls back at the mansion though and only forgets if he wants to forget

Voorhees pulled out two swords and tossed them to a waiting Laura from the small bag strapped across his chest and hanging at his side which seemed too small for a weapon that big to even fit in before tossing it to Scott dropped it due to him being surprised by the sheer weight of it and how leisurely Voorhees tossed it to him, this didn't do wonders for Scott's mood as his eyes glowed beneath his shades as he grabbed Voorhees' arm

Scott had made it pretty clear last night that Voorhees couldn't make him do anything as he tried to stay up all night to keep watch on the Orc Chief, who was the least interested in gaining his trust anyway and only put him to sleep by tricking him into drinking with him...unaware that he drank a strong sleeping potion which still had him drowsy now and Voorhees drank plain water

Scott was drugged as far as he knew...with a sleeping potion made partially due to Orc Alchemy but otherwise with ingredients all found naturally practically anywhere as Scott took his shades off and fired at Voorhees but barely grazed him and hit something invisible in the sky...Grimm's ship

Grimm managed to make eye contact with Voorhees as he attempted to use an emergency landing procedure...a mistake Voorhees intends to make him regret dearly

 **By the time the Captain makes it back to the Main Deck where everyone was, Voorhees' purple aura alone was rocking the ship.**

 _'Shit...'_ That was the immediate thought of every mutant and especially Dartz and Scott as Dartz immediately regretted letting Grimm talk him into tagging along with them, even if it was from afar and he wasn't to set foot on the ship or anywhere near his only parent, Voorhees

Voorhees was able to calm any and all fighting on the ship with a single glare as he requested permission to leave the ship...as if anyone would dare deny him such a request "Oy, Cap'n...I'm off to go play with a special someone, of course not without your blessing and permission" he said succinctly as he looked at Kommamura with his red eyes, which was due to contacts he wore and a grin on his face that seemed so plastered on that his anger was very obvious "Don't let my purty smile fool ya, Wolf...Tiger, stop fighting unless ya wanna fight me instead!"

Baccus tossed him a ring with gold Orcish marking that rotated around it and Voorhees simply looked at it then him without a word as he explained "Use that ring to blend in with the locals when yer finished with yer business..."

"Can I let loose on this one, Cap'n...Dartz?" Voorhees asks the only two people whose opinions mattered to him as Dartz said "No" and the Captain replies surprisingly "Bring him back...alive"

"I'm coming too and there's nothing you can do about it" Scott snaps as he tried to jump on Voorhees but only caught green smoke as Voorhees appeared behind him and a Glyph becomes visible beneath Scott's feet, bouncing him into the air and into the water "maybe that'll teach ya not to go around touchin' people's stuff"

Voorhees scowled that if he killed his son, he may not be allowed back on the ship and have to fight both Dartz and the Captain too...something his own stubbornness won't even allow him to think he can handle as he looked at Laura "We're still gonna have our fight, little miss Wolverine...keep the swords 'til then" he sprints off and jumps into the sea, closer to land before heading into the forest, straight for where Grimm crashed

"Hey, can I make a suggestion, mister...um, Captain, sir?" Kitty asks as Baccus was looking at her hiding behind Dartz but nodded "Cap'n will do fine, Koneko-chan...what is it?"

"Can we go with who we want?" she asks as Ulysses asks her "Well, who'd you have in mind to go with...that is, If you don't intend to hide behind Dartz all day?"

Ulysses follows her eyes to Rat as he smirked at her "Go on..." But Dartz warned her "but beware of the Rat's Surprise and try it only at yer own risk...all o' ya, I don't want ya gravely ill"

"Don't worry, I'll protect your Kitten, Dartz" Quinlan piped up, his Italian/Esperanto accent suddenly becoming really thick as he smiled at Dartz, who wasn't falling for his charismatic charm any more than Kitty was, but if she trusted him...Dartz had no problems as he glared at Quinlan "The Captain alone can make that call, not me...but if even a hair on her body is harmed because of you...well...do I really need to explain that, Quin?"

"Aye..." Quinlan said with a look of genuine fear...Dartz has never made good on his threats to kill him, but he has been punished before by him which hasn't weakened the trust he had for only Dartz

Kitty saw a change in Quinlan as he caught one of the same rings Voorhees got before he left, he was giving her a small grin that wasn't seductive "So...do you trust me now?"

"What?" Kitty asks as Quinlan replied "You think I can't tell how much you trust your friends...they're more like your family now...you seem hesitant and shy of me, however...why?" He knew his appearance had nothing to do with it

Then he catches on...she was terrified of Voorhees and to an extent, him as she thought he was out to harvest her organs or God know what else "I know...I'll cook you whatever you want to eat since ya haven't had breakfast yet and you're free to come to my quarters so I can kick your butt at Shogi or my kitchen"

"Wait...you can cook...we're not gonna end up eating bugs, are we?" Berserker asks as Quinlan replied with a grin "Only if that's your personal preference...I can cook _anything_ _,_ being the ship's chef and all"

"So why did you ask Dartz' permission and not the Captain's?" Laura asks what everyone was thinking as Quinlan frowned "Oh, Dartz practically raised me...my own kind tried to kill me once they were done with my parents...my pa could make Voorhees look very tame but my ma was a kind soul that didn't deserve to die...they both were sentenced to death for protecting me and died doing just that, scarring me in the process, make fun of me for it though and I assure ya that you'll be part of the menu for our next banquet and half the crew won't care or think twice to eat it anyway either" the more Scott heard things like this from particularly Orcs, the more it made him feel less welcome...not that they were welcoming folks to begin with

Kitty saw no scars on him physically but Jean sensed that he was destroyed emotionally and showed no sign that he cared if she entered his mind or not as he had nothing to hide from them, but he was aware that Jean was a telepath as he looked at her, his personality becoming darker "You seem like the most powerful one here...but the most held back because of it"

Quinlan had a darker side of his personality that he didn't like others seeing, born from his pent up hatred of other Orcs, especially those who killed his parents...it made him lash out at times and he almost killed Voorhees with with a spatula for insulting him as well as beat Udon within an inch of his life for getting in the way...both Orcs were much stronger than him too but while he gained Udon's respect, he and Voorhees still hate each other. The only Orc who he likes, at least a little, was Gedharm because he kept his distance from him when they first met and he fought the other Orcs on the crew and even praised his higher intellect and thirst for knowledge while threatening to lobotomize him if he ever got out of place with Dartz, the Ghoul who raised him and gave him a reason to live. He also hated Taeger for his several attempts to kill Dartz and has yet to forgive him

Quinlan put on the ring the Captain gave him, just to see how he looked in the ring's disguise and grabbed a bucket of water to see he looked like (the Orc in the cover pic) but with pale Caucasian skin and he had the same tattoo on the right ribcage and most of his arm and dreads, his canines were smaller...enough to be the size of an average humans and he had bright green eyes...the ring doesn't change one's eye color but he can rub the Orcish inscriptions to modify his appearance, if he so wished

"You're really going out of your way to impress Kitty, aren't you?" Gedharm asks as Quinlan glares at him but doesn't answer as he asked "Ready to disembark, Captain Baccus?"

"Yeah, if everyone knows who they're goin' with..." Baccus says Rogue and Jubilee want to go with Hunter Gilliam, Berserker, Scott and Beastkin went with Drakko who was curious about if Beastkin had any relation to his clan

"Yeah...about that...how exactly do we 'disembark' from this far out?" Multiple asks as Baccus simple said "Same way Voorhees did...how else, mate?"

All the X-Men gave a scared "What?"

"This should be...interesting, to say the least" Renji said as he went with Kommamura who smirked "You ready?"

"Make sure you jump higher than that walking Handbag, Master" Renji snarled as Drakko growled, liking a challenge "As if...don't let the ground hold ya back, Kommamura!" As he was the first to get airborne followed by Kommamura then everyone else

They all landed safely on the coast as Gilliam stared at Renji while he wasn't paying attention as he put his giant sword at his throat as master, student and Drakko argued over who jumped higher "Enough...you morons! None of you jumped higher, it was actually Gedharm and Quinlan who jumped higher because they weren't busy trying to outdo one another"

"Wait...I won their ridiculous bet?" Quinlan said as he really barely played any mind to Ike and Drakko's incessant chatter when he was trying to impress Kitty "See that, Miss Pryde...a Ghoul and a Beastkin got beaten by me and I couldn't care less about their bet" this made Kitty smile as Quinlan wasn't even interested in seducing her, understanding that she belonged to Dartz and only him...all the others were a different story however

"I'm not bothered...he still beat the Ghoul" Drakko said as he did some hand signs for a technique unique among his kind, the Humanification Technique which made his fur burn off to make him look more human, only his tail remained furred as he wrapped it around his waist to keep it hidden and he groaned in annoyance as he was never taught how to turn off this ability at will and will spend three more days as a very feral looking human as Kurt comments "Hey, you look like heer Logan..."

"No...I look like heer Drakko" Drakko replies back "get used to this for another three days or so..."

* * *

 **Once they made it to Tokyo, Kitty and Rogue wanted to go shopping as Drakko was left to keep them from doing so**

"Ooh, can we-?" The girls said before Drakko cut them off with a sharp "No...in the next life, maybe"

"Aw, but" Kitty whined as Drakko said again "No" as he whipped out his tail to smack the two on the butt

"Please let her go, Drak...pretty please" Quinlan pleaded for the girls as Drakko gave him a disciplinary glare as he complained "Captain...Quinlan, Anna-Marie and Kitten are trying to raise my blood pressure..."

"Aw, does somebody need a belly rub?" Bobby teases as Kurt and Multiple chuckled until Drakko cracked his knuckles and gave a sinister glare as he showed his chiseled chest and stomach "Try it and I'll be your worst nightmare for the next three days...you too, girls"

"You guys just love pushing your luck, don't you?" Piotr says as he walked with Laura who seemed to want to see Drakko punish them for their stupidity as his tail whipped out and struck the boys on the back like a whip before being hidden, he saw even Laura blush at that and gravitated to her "Don't faint there...why do you think I don't know you're watching my every move?" He asked her quietly

"I don't know what you're talking about..." Laura said as Drakko put his arm around hers and gave Piotr a stink eye to get away from them as he grinned "Sure ya don't...but there is something feral about ya, I wanna meet this 'Wolverine' fella the whole crew's talkin' about too"

Wolverine was all the talk among the majority of the crew but only members of the crew who have actually met him in the past were Gedharm, Udon, Voorhees, Rat, Dartz and probably the Captain...he was well known for being a fighter that was as fearless as any Ghoul, animaliatic as any Beaatkin but had the heart of a man, Drakko can respect that but he never really met him before and has a desire to meet him, even if he has to follow Dartz back to the mansion to do so

The Gang made it to the Forest between Tokyo and their destination and a few miles out, they run into traps which catches Drakko...he was stronger than he looked however and broke out of it with relative ease as he scowled "Gedharm, we need to watch our step here...why are there frickin' traps set in the middle of nowhere anyway?"

"We're close..." Dartz said as they saw the city entrance finally and it was guarded, as usual as Drakko decides to take his ring off that concealed him from the Humans and growled "I really don't appreciate the Welcoming Committee these Ghouls have, I'm gonna go say hi"

Drakko was extremely confident and calm, his eyes were sharp and he seemed a bit annoyed as he walked out from where they were hidden and decided to just waltz into the city...knowing full well that he'd be stopped if not by the fact that he was a Beastkin in human form, then by the fact that not even other Ghouls can just walk into the city without a damn good reason, even in times of peace

The Guards' eyes look at each other without any other physical movement as they saw Drakko approaching, they had spears and armor but that didn't make them any less cautious of ferals (be it Ghoul or Beastkin)

"Go home...freak" one guard said as both put their spears across Drakko's way as Drakko inspected the bladed weapon "I'm here on business, nothing more and take that freak insult back or I'll stuff it down your throat...show some respect"

The other guard, thinking Drakko wasn't paying attention swung his spear at him but he dodged "What part of you not being welcome here don't you get?"

Drakko flipped over one guard and put a dagger with a vial of green liquid on the end at his throat as he tilted it slightly for the liquid to run down the blade and drip at the guard's foot, coroding the spot "Go ahead, try me and this goes into your bloodstream...there's enough demonite in this to kill 200 Ghouls and only one nick is needed to get it in your body so pray my hand doesn't slip and slice your throat open...I will kill you even if fighting with a weapon goes against by personal ethics"

"You're joking..." The other guard said as Drakko snarled "You forget...my people are second only to the Snakes that followed the God, Orochimaru in terms of skills with Toxicology and we have a poison for every occasion despite it not even being the reason we're so feared"

The guard still attacked however and Drakko slit the Ghoul's throat and kicked the other one in the face to knock him out

Drakko then signalled the others that it was safe to come out as Berserker kicked the Guard whose throat was slit, just to make sure he was dead "Was that really necessary...we could've just asked nicely without killing the guy"

"Don't do that or you'll wake him up...I said that I had poison, but not which vial was poison" Drakko showed the vial in the the blade he used and revealed that he had others in six other colors "...it was a very strong sleeping potion, but I do have the poison"

Berserker was now having a glaring match with Drakko as Gedharm swung his arm between them "That's enough...we should be going"

Drakko and Berserker were still glaring at each other however as Drakko thought _'this kid...they were all trained in some way by Dartz, but he's going to be a threat to me...sooner or later'_ he saw a fire in Berserker's eyes and was uncertain which of them would win if they were to fight here and now

Dartz looked over the two, he knew they felt his eyes on them then grinned for some unknown reason as he thought _'Laura may be the Cap'n's favorite X-Man but Berserk's one o' my favorites...watch yerself, Drakko, cuz he ain't always all talk...I've seen him back up that talk very violently if he had to'_

Dartz wanted to see who would win if the two fought as well but placed a hand on his shoulder "Mutants...I think there's somewhere we should pay a visit to before Voorhees rares his ugly head again, eh Drakko?" Drakko nodded, still uncertain why he felt genuinely threatened by Berserker and not by the usually more aggressive Spyke

Everyone heads to the furthest end of the city, the Ghouls in the area seem to be ignoring the likes of the X-Men...surely they knew who they were but sure Berserker piped up asking everyone "You ever get the feeling that you're being watched...yes, I'm aware that we're in the middle of a strange yet familiar city and everyone's watching us but I mean in the creepy 'breathing down your neck' kind of vibe"

Remy agreed, like everyone else and looked behind him to be met with a man in the distance with bright but sinister yellow eyes watching them, he was sure this person was following them since back in Tokyo but showed no sign of wanting to talk

"Creed...is that you?" Anna-Marie asks as Sabertooth had also gone violent against Magneto as Logan did with Xavier...surely, the feral was hurt by the revelation that Xavier and Magneto were responsible for the existence of someone like Michael Darkstone and indirectly Kami as well, as they almost fought over who would recruit him as well despite how much more evil he was than Darkstone and the level of resent he had for them too, Kami had given them warnings of these mentors too...which they wouldn't take seriously enough until Kami's death sadly

The Feral did not answer as another feral the X-Men hadn't met before came to his side..Kyle Gibney known better by the codename WildChild and someone who has earned nearly as much of Victor's ire as Xavier and Magneto

"What're you doing here, Creed and where the hell have you been?" Gambit demanded, earning a growl but an answer from Sabretooth as he said "I've been around...here and there...watching, where's Logan?"

"Back home" Dartz said, earning a sneer from Victor...surely he was not nearly the same person as before Kami's death but he was still sadistic and no longer held back by Magneto, should he snap as he didn't look happy now "Can we join yer little crew here, Dartz?"

"Captain...?" Dartz looked at Baccus as he said "Sure...why not?"

Victor looked at Baccus, surely he knew the Hierarchy of the Black Fang crew but he thought Dartz had graduated to Captain by now "I thought you were Captain by now, Dartz...shame, I assume Asakura isn't with us either"

"Yer friend's awfully silent there, mate...I don't assume he plans on leaving yer side" Baccus pointed out as Kyle stepped forward "I am Kyle Gibney...Weapon Omega's Wildchild and you'd be surprised, you look familiar somehow" he looked at Baccus

"Really...I don't think I'd forget ever meeting someone as...odd...as you" Baccus said as Gibney insisted "We have met...only this is the only time we have been face to face with one another" this made some crewmates and X-Men suspicious

 **A few meters into their journey and it was clear that they were being followed by at least three different parties...Bounty Hunters, a trio of Assassins and one disgruntled Crypt Wardin that made the rest look like amateurs**

"Why do I get the feeling that we're being watched...and followed" Bobby says as Dartz says "That's cuz ya probably are bein' followed...but yer definitely bein' watched, Kami's old man must already be well aware that we're here by now"

"D-did you just say Kami's father...the same Kami that was trying to kill us all?" Rogue asks as all the X-Men were now on high alert as Gedharm even held back a shudder from his first time meeting Ryujin "Yeah, I think I'd much rather deal with Kami than that sourpuss..."

"I wanna see his reaction when you tell him that to his face" Drakko smirks as Gedharm replied "No way in hell...Udon and Rat got the dumb idea to try to rob the guy and it didn't end well as he knows a lot more about us Orcs than anyone knows about him for some reason"

"You tell him or I will..." Drakko demanded as Gedharm replied "You do it then, I don't care...see how well that ends"

"Uh, hate to interrupt ya'll but I know fer damn sure we ain't in winter yet" Quinlan informs the group as everyone notices it to be snowing all of a sudden "This place ain't prone to snowstorms...is it?"

"No...it ain't..." Dartz said as he quickly charges behind Quinlan to stop the Death Axe from tearing him in two as he glared at it's wielder, Titus and the members of Kakuzu's Bounty Hunter Guild, Akatsuki

"Long time no see, Dartzy" Titus snarls "You disappear for nearly three years then suddenly pop up in our city with the whole family and have the nerve to not come say hi...Why you so mean to us, Dartzy?" Titus said, knowing he was getting on Dartz' nerves as he replied "I ain't too fond o' ye and ya nicknames...Titan...and we ain't here fer ye"

"It's Titus...I _know_ you know that I hate being called Titan" Titus snarls as Nic, Ritchie and their new partner Yahiko appeared only to be intercepted by Drakko who scowls "You...human...don't interfere in Dartz' business"

Ritchie then pointed his gun at Wildchild, who had very little reaction to it besides inspecting just how damn good the gun itself was with a curious "Nice...you could really fuck us up big time with that...if I let you, that is"

"Aw, Nicky...it's no fun when your prey is already semi-retarded" Yahiko said caressing Nic's face, causing the deaf swordsman to grin as Wildchild scowled "Hey, bitch...I don't take kindly to being called stupid by a nobody like you...I'm well aware of not just that the gun's loaded and he's a trigger happy moron who is getting kinda pissed at me but those bullets are not made to kill me unless I'm a Ghoul...which clearly, I'm not"

Ritchie grit his teeth as both his guns were now on Wildchild's chest, he wasn't going to take an insult like that very lightly

Wildchild was about to attack Ritchie when Victor grabs him and smacks him face first into a tree, he would do this until he passed out "Jesus, yer worse than Deadpool, how many times do I have to tell ya never open her big mouth and spit out bullshit again?!"

Victor snarled as he showed his claws "Yer in our way...I don't like that One. Fucking. Bit" he swung his claws at Ritchie but he was quicker than Victor gave him credit for as he backflipped onto a tree branch, mocking Creed _'Magneto no petto no shikaku ni dangan o ireru no wa ureshikunai to omou no wa nazedesu ka? Ghouls o korosu dangan shika nai to omoimasu ka?'_ (What makes you think I won't be happy putting bullets in Magneto's pet thug...you think I only have bullets that kill Ghouls?)

Victor had finally snapped...it was world news that he wanted nothing to do with Magneto anymore when he left the Brotherhood and Bayville altogether after Magneto and Xavier's shared past with Darkstone and Kami was revealed by them...he only then reappeared for Kami's funeral due to his respect for Bane but barely anyone knew he was there as he was ready to remove Ritchie's head from his body but a wall of ice stopped him

Victor glared vemonously at Iceman as Bobby said "Hey, don't look at me...if it was me, you could break through it with ease"

"I think we've said enough..." Guren said as his breath was visible from his cold abilities as he gave both Victor and Titus a glare as he said "Calm down...you'd best be on your way, Titus and you can say 'konnichiwa' later"

Titus begrudgingly withdrew his weapon with a "Hn...why did Kakuzu leave us to take orders from this stick in the snow again?" He didn't dare let Guren hear him

 **Titus' group left as everyone else turned to go to the Crypt but someone else wanted to say hi...**

"What have we here, Mitarashi...a legend is in our midst" Yamimaru 'Yami' Shirokage says standing on the underside of a branch directly under Roku Mitarashi

"Oy, Kaizoku-san (Pirate)...which of these frails stole Asakura-san's heart like that Angel did to Kami?" Roku asks as he stared at the girls as everyone stared at his arm which he turned into a jagged blade "Quit staring or I'll give ya something to stare at!"

"None of 'em...I was hopin' you had someone in mind" Dartz said as Roku was undoing his pants for some reason as it infuriated Yami who was right under him as he tried to stab him in the face with his black bladed katana "Baka, no way in hell you're pulling out your junk with me under here or with them in front of us...you tryin' to make me kill ya or something?!"

"Can we get to taking about the Legendary Iceman now?" Bobby asks as both Yami and Rogue nearly died of laughter and Yami said "move aside, Legendary pain in my ass...I was talking about Victor Creed" Victor had no reaction to this anymore as it happened every time he or Logan met Ghouls, especially if they were together

"I'll only be a true legend when I disembowel Magneto and Xavier's lying asses...but first I wanna have a word with a Ghoul known as Valoran and a clown called Raiko"

"Valoran, huh?" Yami raises an eyebrow as Dartz scowled "What in the hell is your business with Raiko, Creed?" Dartz was indeed annoyed because Raiko was his older brother, an ally of Michael Darkstone but he also was trying to get someone to come after Victor and just about anyone who got on the wrong foot with him

Raiko was also a dangerous fellow, he took on and almost took out the entire X-Men plus Victor, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch just to prove a point and note just how inferior they were but he was clear that he had something special in store for Creed and many other Ghouls and mutants that was worse that actually killing them and Victor wanted to know who Azar was...as he seemed to be on the level of Azazel or higher and a complete mystery

"I want some answers from Raiko...he will be safe in his little cell, as long as I get what I came for" Victor said as Raiko topped his list of people he hated or didn't trust with Azazel as he couldn't trust them both and hated Raiko with a passion

* * *

 **Elsewhere, Voorhees found Grimm's ship but no sign of his son yet...he knew such a crash couldn't have possibly killed his son...he would make Cyclops suffer dearly, if that happened...he had no time to waste in allowing him to get away**

Voorhees started removing the red contacts from his eyes, which were starting to itch "What a pain..."

He circles the crashed ship, apparently he hadn't done much damage to it as Grimm wasn't inside anymore...he had no problem with hunting him down if he had to

Grimm however, was in a tree not far away watching the Orc Chief...he found the older Orc to be huge compared to himself and he was trying not to be intimidated or found as Voorhees was a master hunter and was not only looking for him, but listening as well by how his ears twiched at the slightest sound

Grimm merely took a deep breath and gulped as Voorhees took up a small rock as he picked even that up without Grimm being aware of it

Voorhees threw the small harmless rock with great speed right past Grimm's head, he thought nothing of it until he saw that the same rock that nearly took his eye out was back at his ship where Voorhees no longer was _'Wait...there's no way he found me that fast and even then he couldn't move to get to me anywhere near that fast'_

Grimm turned as every hair on his body stood on end as Voorhees crouched on a branch with the sun behind him and Grimm in his clear view as a purple aura burned to life around him "Grimm...well well, I never thought it'd be _you_ I had to deal with...I already had plans for you...plans on _exactly_ how I'd kill you"

"You know who I am?" Grimm asks as Voorhees replied "Do I know who you are...I have many children I never took care of, but I actually took care of you for the first four months of your life, I named you Grimmjow...you were special then, but now...not so much"

"The name's Grimm...and I came only to talk" Grimm said as Voorhees charged and missed with a slash of his sword but not with a knee to the gut, leaving him in crippling pain "I don't think you understand why I'm here though...there's nothing I would ever want to talk to you about, only reason I haven't killed you yet is because I made a promise to someone not to and that someone ain't you"

Grimm was vomiting from that blow to the gut but he jumped away and threw special seeds at the pursuing Voorhees called Blast Seeds that would explode on contact...but Voorhees countered with Blast Seeds of his own then came at him from above "Come now...draw your weapon"

Grimm drew a large greatsword that was larger that Voorhees' but was heavy and hard to weild, if not for Grimm's experience with using it as if it were a Katana, Grimm focused his wrath into his sword and swung it but Voorhees stopped it mid swing with his foot "Wow...the mighty Greatsword, Excellis...I never thought that sword that I've only heard of in Orcish fairytales and scary stories was actually real"

"I don't care very much for fairy tails...but I'll tear you apart with it!" Grimm spun back swinging the sword again as Voorhees tries to jump away but was still grazed across the chest by the blade "I'm going to dethrone you just like Bane did with Kami...you're not worthy of being Orc Chief if you're just a monster!"

"Me...unworthy?" Voorhees asks "How willing are you to make those your last words...to kill me?!"

"You think I was going to just give up without a goddamn hell of a fight, well you're so wrong!" Voorhees' aura was burning the forest and he saw Grimm was shaking but far from willing to give up "words mean nothing...but actions speak volumes"

* * *

 **A/N - The Pirates return to the Ghoul City in order to show the young mutants around the Crypt, but will the Wardins be willing to allow this...Where has Victor really been and why is Wildchild of all people with him and can Grimm really kill Voorhees and replace as he says he will despite his clear inferiority to the mad Orc Chief of the Black Fang Pirates and what does Dartz really have planned for his evil brother, Raiko? R &R and find out!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Don't Be Afraid of the Dark - NEVER Make Fun Of The Pirate!**

 **Chapter 3**

 **Gedharm suddenly felt festive and started humming a song the whole crew knew, albeit in their own languages, including Orcish**

"What's got him to festive...Christmas?" Kommamura said as Gedharm was humming 'Bink's Sake' (from One Piece) both in his native languages of Spanish and Orcish, ignoring Komammura who got near Baccus "Make him stop..." He was in the opposite mood to festive at the moment

"You start and I'll choke you..." He threatened Renji who was close enough for him to hear that annoying song he started humming along to as he replied "But it's catchy..."

"Yeah, about as catchy as chickenpox..." Ike snarled as he caught X-23 and Victor ahead of him and did like Drakko was doing to tune out the jolly Archaeologist and listening in

Victor didn't really care much for singing or music in general unless it was him cutting people to shreds, he knew X-23 knew why he targetted her the last time they met (while Kami was still very much alive but Michael Darkstone wasn't defeated yet) and not Logan...or she'd at least figured it out by now

"So where have you been all this time?" Laura asks as he replied "all over...tracking down any other remnants of those who served Kami or Darkstone...while keeping this retard from getting us both - especially himself - incarcerated or killed" he stuck his thumb at Wildchild

"Logan hasn't been the same since the things Kami said about Xavier and more turned out to be true...he's become quieter and less recognisable now" Laura explained "most of us are still here because he begged us - like on his knees, if he had to - to stay...for his sake but he told those who had parents to go back to the entire truth with more than your fair share of subtle threats that we were his kids as much as theirs and he seemed to be doing a great job taking care of us"

"Why hasn't he walked out of there yet then?!" Victor snapped with a growl, no one blamed him for being hurt and angry as they all were as Berserker said "You and Logan are well respected by the Ghouls and they begged him to stay...it was no secret to any of us that if he set foot out of that mansion, we'd never see him ever again...we even feel sorry for him and stayed for those whose loved ones he couldn't persuade with sweet threats"

"At Kami's funeral...I saw a change in him too, he wouldn't eat, talk to or smile at any of us...he felt alone, something I can sympathize with" Dartz said as he glanced at Komammura "He watches Komammura like a hungry hawk from now on too"

"We're here..." Yakuzo said as they saw the outside of the Prison facility known as the Crypt, as Multiple asked "I don't like this place already...Why do I no longer get the feeling like we're being watched...?"

"It's a prison...it's not a place you want to like, even if you're a little brain dead" Yakuzo said as he ordered "Go in...Shin should be around somewhere"

"Somewhere...how do you lose track of a blind guy that's four times your size?" Renji asks having only glanced Shin once in the past outside the prison while with Kommamura about two years ago in Venice...a place Shin seemed to like visiting "Does he ever even leave Impel Dow-I mean the Crypt?"

"No...and you know he's listening, right?" Yakuzo leered at the group as Victor scowled "Yeah yeah, where is he?"

"What do we have here, Yakuzo-san?" Shin said as he appeared behind the group without a sound from a portal of Darkness as he sniffed the air then grimaced, these scents were new to him but now he'd always remember each one _'Bakkasu, anata no hyōban wa anata no mae ni arimasu, shikashi, kono keimusho wa kodomo no tame no bashode wa arimasen, azazeru no, watashi wa anata ga ima anata no yakunitatanai fāsuto meito o kōkan suru to omoimashita ka?'_ (I'm peckish and in no mood for pests...Bacchus, your reputation precedes you, but this prison is no place for children, even Azazel's, I thought you'd replaced your useless First Mate by now?)

Kurt, curious, teleported onto Shin's shoulder as he stood at his full height, waving his hand in his face to get no reaction but a scowl...two things that enraged Shin most were hands being waved in his face and being touched without permission as he grabbed Kurt's tail at blinding speed "Tell me, boy...how do you wish to die?"

Having been with Rogue and Azazel training his ass off since before Bane even lost his body to Kami non-stop until their return a few weeks ago, Kurt was no longer fazed by his tail being grabbed, even being able to teleport to places he's never been to before and across dimensions like his least favorite, the Shadow Dimension which he heard from a Demon the now served him was the origin of particularly the darkest of Dark Magics and Bane Asakura's and all other Asakura's abilities centered around Shadows...despite it being Bane's X-Gene and not related to his undeniable prowess in magic

"Hey, hands off the tail, man" Kurt says as Victor lunges at him but Shin summons his darkness to stop him in his tracks, Victor has seen what happens to someone who touches Shin's magic and it wasn't pretty at all

"That's enough, Creed...get what you came for and leave already, while you still have such a choice" Shin says as Dartz walks off "I don't wanna be here any longer than any of us need to be here either...get on with it, Creed"

"Yer lucky I respect ya enough that I let ya order me around like that, Dartzy...I might take ya rushin' me like this and orderin' around like yer lackey the wrong way" Victor sneered as Dartz glared "Enough with that nickname or else"

Dartz' mood seems to be worsening by the minute and Wildchild was putting the icing on the cake as he pet Dartz' Bandana covered head like some lost puppy as Dartz froze in place and disbelief as everyone but Shin and Yakuzo got away from the two, especially Dartz who had a silver aura around him...the same one that earned him the nickname The Silver-Eyed Demon because he immediately went feral if absolutely anyone touched his bandana

"Aw...don't feel too bad, shorty...Creed's a dick to everyone as of recently" Wildchild said petting Dartz on the head until he reached his boiling point as Wildchild looked at the Captain "By the way, mister Captain...why are you allowing him to wear a washcloth on his head that he should be bathing with?"

Everyone practically heard something snap somewhere in Dartz like a twig, there were certain insults that even he drew the line at as he quickly grabbed Wildchild's hand on his head and broke it quickly, loudly and as painfully as possible before pinning him by the neck at the nearest closed cell door and easily lifted him with one hand with an axe in the other as he whispered "Watch yer back at all time around me, Gibney...cuz you'll be lucky if you don't leave this prison piece by piece...don't EVER, EVER touch the bandana...Do I make myself clear, matey?"

Gibney nods quickly as Dartz grins, sending a shiver up his spine "and the name's Dartz...you lose a limb if I so much as hear myself addressed as anything but..." He drops him and walks up to Raiko's cell

Raiko was forced to remain standing, as from the walls Hell Chains were connected and strapped to his arms...this seemed like a rather normal punishment but the slightest movement as if he's trying to escape and the chains will move on their own and squeeze with any movement of his arms or hands and burn deeper into his flesh...he looked very similar to Dartz with green hair, a trait inherited from their father who also had naturally emerald hair, silver eyes that looked similar to wolf or cat in Raiko and light skin, he was taller than Dartz by almost two feet, but shorter that Colossus and Sabretooth as he had his eyes shut as if dreaming

"Rise and shine, sleepin' ugly...I want some answers outta ya!" Dartz stood right before his brother, he used to be terrified of him but now he wasn't and it wasn't because he was helpless and unarmed without his spear, Ronin "I'm not leavin' here without 'em either, I know there's some missing dot connecting the people who sent Kommamura after our parents and whoever you answer to"

Raiko open both eyes, his voice was deeper that Dartz' barely deep voice "Took you long enough to come here...dear brother...I thought it would be more 'prison-breakey' though...ah, and you brought the love of my life with you too..." He glanced behind Dartz to see Rogue

Raiko had an obsession with Rogue from the first time they met and fought, he wants to still marry her even if his feelings for her were both one-sided and not really love since he did stab her through with his spear to show her just how expendable she was to him...he saved her life twice though, once from Kami who didn't take very kindly to it and the other was from another was from another of Michael's far from brainless goons, Grodd formerly known as Grody Wu and his son who seemed to be forced into working for Michael by his asshole father, Nathan Wu better known as Wukong who was vital in stopping Michael by betraying his father and helping Dartz, the first and only person older than him to be kind to him

Grodd wore a special Cerebro-like helmet that blocked his telepathy and telekinesis completely as he was shackled to the wall by his wrists, tail and ankles and Nathan merely chained by one wrist and ankle by the same chains as Raiko and his father as he sat on the floor, suffering from extreme depression over what he was forced to do which led to him helping Dartz out in the first place

Before them was a Ghoul Priest praying without any concern for Grodd's threats to kill him first when he gets out, he was Valoran Hargreaves...he was a former Priest turned Sage, he was a calm man with no fear and didn't care particularly which God he prayed to as long as they weren't benevolent. He had white long hair and dark grey eyes, he wore a dark purple hooded cloak with ordinary clothes underneath

"You need to stay in one place, Hargreaves... Ya ain't an easy man to track down" Victor said as Valoran sighed "I prefer to be referred to merely as Valoran...now, state your business with me this time around"

"Just the location of another of Michael's hideouts...I know Kami had many here but there may be more than meets the eye to some of them"

"You'd have to be more specific than that...and where's my fucking payment from the last time I helped you?" Valoran asks "these bases have been mostly abandoned and were all dead since Asakura Bane banished Kami as a kid...I don't know what you expect to find there"

"I know they're abandoned...Logan and I were both there when Kami went all 'Han Solo' on you guys cuz of this idiot" Sabretooth pointed at J'onn accusingly as the disgraced former Ghoul Lord looked like he'd seen better days...the more Victor learned about Kami, the more he felt that Kami wasn't a villain, he wasn't even inherently evil, very undeniably cruel and ruthless but not your typical kind of 'evil' as much as he was a puppet on J'onn's strings

Remy stood right before J'onn, he showed no anger or said a word...out of everyone who was a part of the Brotherhood at the time, his hatred of Magneto was probably second only to Creed's because of what little remorse they had for using them...he expected no less from Erik but not Xavier, who was always seeming the kinder of the two...his betrayal was unacceptable even if Victor wasn't one of the X-Men

Remy clearly hasn't been himself since Kami killed him...gladly, he and many others were revived by Bane's spirit, the Elder Spirit, Bastion and while Remy was probably the most grateful for it...he was still extremely angry at a few people...Azazel and Magneto topped his list

He was livid with Azazel only for taking Kurt and Rogue, which was partially why Kami went on his murderous warpath as well, but he was forgiven as he couldn't dare even raise his hand at a Demon Lord, while Magneto only served to make him as angry as Logan because he knew what would happen and that especially Logan and Victor would have a beating of a lifetime for him afterwards but Logan had locked himself up tightly in the mansion, or what was left of it, not wanting to see anyone and Victor was God knows where

Raiko knew all of this as he looked at everyone...many of them ready to just about explode as Dartz asked "Raiko...who do you work for?"

Raiko looked down, completely unashamed of the pain he caused them all "Who I work for is the least of your problems right now, there are others who works for my employer and they're very powerful...I ain't squealin' until I'm outta the bird cage, brother" he grinned sadistically until Remy pushed Dartz aside and raised Raiko's head by force with his bo staff

"We've been through hell and back and you think this is funny?!" Remy snarled angrily, he was furious and wanted to let it all out of Raiko as he looked at Yakuzo "Open this door...I'll make him talk even if I have to beat him to death to do so"

Drakko understood why the mutants were angry, he understood better than anyone but felt that killing Raiko wasn't the most logical option right now no matter how much he wanted them to suffer as he held Remy back "Think...you snap and accidentally let him loose and he'll kill you - again - in a heartbeat...it's not worth losing your temper over"

"That's enough...I'll tell you what I know" Everyone turned to see Nathan Wu/Wukong standing as Yami scolds "Why would they let someone as useless as you go anywhere with them...huh, trash?"

Yami was very unpleasant towards Wukong...he had every reason not to be as they weren't friends but Nathan always tries to appeal to his good side anyway as he pointed at his father glaring at him sadistically "I can't bare spending another second being anywhere near these two pieces of trash, I don't care if I go with you or not...the sight of them sickens me"

"He is a bit young...way too wet behind the ears to be of any use to the enemy..." Roku stared at him, Nathan knew better than to even fight Mitarashi as he clearly had an entire toolbox loose rather than a few screws and seemed to have no friends...just like he did, not like Roku was looking for any however "show no mercy to the enemy...not even if he's the son of the enemy" he twitched once Wukong did look him in he eye

Dartz stops him "Let him out...I owe my life to him, he gives any trouble and I kick his ass and bring him back here to an even worse part of the prison" Dartz said as Shin added "He will serve out his sentence, one way or the other..."

Shin lets him out of the cell as he bowed to Dartz "thank you..."

"Don't mention it...and that's Master Dartz to ya" Dartz said as Wukong gave a confused "Come again?"

"You didn't think I'd let you out of my sight that easy, did ya...you're my apprentice from now on and you will be better than Kommamura's little numbnuts if I have anything to say about it, got that?" Dartz asked as Wukong was still in shock replying "Yes, Master...I think"

Wukong looked at Renji and Kommamura as Renji gave him a peace sign and a grin and Kommamura scowled at him...not the least bit curious about him

Wukong walks over to Kommamura and immediately notices his sharp claws and that he was not here to be friends with anyone as he got on his knees and bowed "Master Kommamura, I would like to humbly apologize for my actions...and words towards you, you have to believe my mind wasn't my own when I said those things"

"I don't wanna hear it...I don't forgive that easy" Kommamura snarled points at a now thrashing, angry Grodd "You're the spawn of him...don't look at me, don't talk to me, don't come near me or my apprentice ever...again and I'm not your master, don't call me Master or I fully intend to kill you"

"Isn't that a little harsh, Master?" Renji asks as Kommamura said "Let me catch you talking to him...I'll show you the true meaning of harsh treatment...Like Drakko said, we ain't here to make friends"

"Why are you agreeing with someone who hates you for ruining his life in the first place then?" Renji asks as Ike flicked him on the forehead "None of your business, it's personal"

Renji held his forehead "That's your excuse for everything..."

"About my payment, Creed..." Valoran clears his throat at the awkward moment "I want it now...or you get nothing"

"How much do I need to wire to your bank account then?" Creed asks as Valoran chuckled at something he didn't even find that amusing "Funny...but I neither have a bank account, not do I want your money...he already has it, I smell it" he pointed at Wildchild

"What does he smell on you?" X-23 sniffed Wildchild's person and didn't even need to get too personal for her eyes to widen in immediate regret and disgust "What the hell is that?"

"Does he stink that bad?" Ulysses asks as Shin clarifies for her, having the best nose of any of them and not even being near Kyle "Yeah, he's revolting..."

"Jesus Christ..." was all Dartz could say as Wildchild gave them all a bewildered and annoyed "That's not me...it's this, you bunch of idiots"

He pulled out two Ziploc bags from his bag containing almost completely rotted human flesh he's had on him for at least two weeks now, specially for this occasion...enough time for him and Victor to be all but immune to the stench "Wish I could've kept it fresher but we have nowhere to stay here yet...much less a fridge to keep it in"

"Y'know, that bag Voorhees had on him...it's not called a Store-A-Lot for nothing...a building can fit in it if ya have the means to get it in, that looks like one of 'em" Drakko grabs at Wild child's bag but misses "they were created way back when Ghouls, Orcs and Beastkins were at peace as a sign of said peace...the current Ghoul Lord's grandfather was Ghoul Lord at the time"

"I'll skin you, Hello Kitty...don't touch my stuff" Wildchild may have the weakest Healing Factor compare to monsters like Victor Creed and Logan, but it was still marginally stronger than X-23...making him a glutton for punishment that can't control his mouth, which was the reason Victor can't tolerate him sometimes and Logan tried to kill him on even more occasions than Victor...the three were still close up until the X-Men and Brotherhood took in Victor and Logan respectively and Wildchild disappeared from his constant tormentors, Weapon X and who knows who else

Ryujin had no mercy on anyone even remotely responsibly for the things Kami did or helping him, hence why J'onn was in the Crypt...once back in the city, Dartz wants to see how he's been over the years

What he did to his former apprentice was as merciful as he'd be on anyone and he'd fight anyone who got between him and beating J'onn within an inch of his life when his grief was too much for him...which was several times a day or a week sometimes

He picked favorites with no one and it was no secret that he loved his children regardless of how evil they were, mostly from how he raised them as he came out of his house but went back in the moment he saw Dartz and the X-Men

Berzerker saw the Ghoul Lord however and tapped Dartz "Isn't that his house over there...how about we go say hi?"

"I dunno...he doesn't seem to act like I would expect a Ghoul Lord of his stature to act" Drakko was apprehensive and with good reason as he felt the Ghoul Lord's bottled up feelings

Dartz walked up and knocked on the door, he and Ryujin had a great respect for one another since he became Bane's bodyguard, he praised Dartz on how powerful and controlled he was, something Dartz held pride in when his own past was looked at

Dartz was also worried as no one had seen or heard from the Ghoul Lord and he refused to attend Kami's funeral, keeping one of his own with the Kurosaki Clan "Ryujin...ye in there?" Dartz asks

The answer he received was a sword through his palm touching the door and another one that missed his face, Dartz' reaction to this was a grin though as he pulled his hand off the blade that went through it, which healed "he seems happy to see me..."

"If this is how he shows happiness then I would hate to see him angry...he is Kami's dad however, so I wasn't expecting him to be a pushover" Berserker said, having heard of Ryujin from Bane

"You know he can see and hear us, right?" Dartz asks as he could see Ryujin as well with the Kakugan's abilities to see through objects as Ryujin threw another bigger sword at Dartz' stomach but Dartz caught it before he was stabbed

"What do you want?" Ryujin finally asks as Kitty walked through the door, thinking it was okay "To see you, silly..."

She jumped back out almost immediately however as Ryujin tried to slash her throat "go away...do not intrude on my privacy and why the hell are you with these freaky kids anyway?"

"We're Logan's kids...and we're not freaky" Spyke went into his armored form and charged to Kitty's rescue

Ryujin became cold at the very mention of that name, he greatly respected Logan and Victor, even treating the two as the only non-Ghouls that were his equals as he stabs him in the stomach with a dagger through his armor, whispering in his ear and crying "Kami's gone and you think I care about Logan...what makes you think I have anything left to live for...or lose?"

"No!" Rogue snarled as she summoned six Demons, Azazel's Royal Guards and attacked Ryujin charged them head on, but stopped in his tracks as Shin appeared between him and Rogue, protecting her with his body and his magic known as _'Yami ga tsutsumikomu'_ (Darkness Envelops) or to the prisoners of the Crypt, 'The Darkness that Fears no Light'

This was because a vengeful Ghoul once barged into the Crypt one time to rescue his friend...only to find her being tortured by Shin, he hoped to overpower and likely kill Shin by using Light Magic which was strong against his Dark Magic...that was when Shin's magic reacted and began consuming the Lightning of it's own will before also consuming the Ghoul, as other mortified inmates and Guren, a fellow torturer only loosely affiliated with the Crypt watched to see that Shin had barely noticed the man he just killed despite knowing he was there

While it was true that Shin's magic was more than capable of eating people, he preferred to eat that way only to prove a point and preferred using his own mouth and teeth as people had also assumed that he had removed some or all of his teeth at one point to 'feed' his magic which was true whenever he was hit hard enough to dislodge a tooth as when he fought Bane when he was a kid but Shin was notoriously hard to hurt and easy to anger, so the chance of that happening very often was slim

"Interesting...she doesn't smell like beautiful to me at all...more like really cheap perfume and many...many bar fights, I like it" Shin protected Rogue by use of his Dark Magic

It took a second before Rogue noticed that she was the item of desire the Blind Psycho was speaking of as she seemed a bit insulted by the gesture "Excuse me...Bar fights?"

"This thing has a crush on Rogue...he said she didn't smell beautiful" Bobby joked as Shin grabbed him and lifted him "Thing? Me? You must be stupid if you thought I was blind and deaf...you will be the first to see just how that traitor feels in a cell at my prison" he tossed Bobby into the Darkness, but he wasn't eaten...only sent to a waiting cell

"Lay your bets, Gentlemen...who wins on a three way clash between Lord Kurosaki, Shin-sensei and Dartz?" Berserker says to Kurt, Beastkin and Gambit

"This is Kami's father we're talking about here...my bets are on Kurosaki" Gambit says as Nic agreed

"Shin..." Beastkin placed his bet with real money as Berserker replied "No way, Lord Kurosaki would slice him to bits before he even...uh, heard it coming"

"Dartz is hands down the best fighter among the Black Fangs and not so easy to take down..." Kurt spoke fondly of the Pirate despite his attitude problem sometimes with people who should be in authority over him but he won't listen to out of a lack of respect...mostly on his own part

Shin froze, he could barely believe his ears "Are your kids...making bets on me winning or losing a fight?"

"How'd you guess they weren't gambling or something?" Ryujin asks as the blind man replied "Because even if they were...they can't do the type of gambling done in this city, I highly doubt they're that stupid"

 **Suddenly, a man appeared wearing literally rags, a sign that he was from the rogue Ghoul neighborhood, The Slums...he had a sickly look to him but his yellow eyes looked at the group, particularly Dartz, Shin and Ryujin**

 _'Subarashī... Anata wa kon'ya no raionzuden ni komakai tsuika o surudeshou... Watashi wa korera no wakai totsuzenhen'i-tai ga kachigāru nimokakawarazu, anata no kakaku o agete kudasai'_ (Wonderful...you will make fine additions to tonight's Lion's Den...I wonder, how much these young mutants are worth though, name your price) the man said with a voice that seemed too old for someone as young as himself, because it wasn't his but the ruler of the Slums, Garuda as his eyes met X-23's

Dartz quickly got between him and the teens "Not interested..." He knew of Garuda but this was their first time meeting and it wasn't what he was expecting

The possessed man frowned and glared at Dartz from the corner of his eye "Not interested...why would I care what you would be interested in...you either attend or I find...other means of gettin' you there and I doubt you need proof of how unpleasant I can be" he then becomes amused at the looks the X-Men were giving him, Garuda and Kami were always compared to one another in terms of who was more evil but while Kami was a bigger threat, Garuda was definitely far more dangerous in every other way...Kami saw him as a threat and used Kurosaki Clan Sealing Magic to confine him to what is now called The Slums, effective removing him from the Chess game

Garuda's body may have been confined, but his mind clearly wasn't confined at all as his astral form can travel across the city easily and probably the world if he wanted to as well as possess the bodies of others and he's been spreading a drug based virus all over the Slums and the city at large without anyone being aware that it was his doing to control the minds of the city as it made them more susceptible to Garuda's will...Titus, alongside his older brother Yamato left to fend for themselves on the streets after the Binge War, they were taken in by a seemingly very nice Garuda in person but were treated as the trash he saw them as eventually, he was trained by Garuda personally as well but when he saw his chance he took it and fled, despite wanting his brother with him or going in his place

Speaking of Titus, he was nearby and not too pleased about the X-Men meeting Garuda...or Garuda's very presence at all as he threw his Death Axe at the possessed man "Garuda...your presence is not welcome here and you are not allowed to go near these newcomers, I don't care if Victor Creed is among them!"

Everyone was sure that the Death Axe had split the man in two as he was way too weak and starved looking to even hope to move out of the way fast enough, once the dust clears however, Garuda's messenger is shown to be, not just unharmed and uncaring, but standing on the end of the Death Axe's handle

"Ah, on time as always...my son, Guide them home to me" Garuda says to a less than pleased Titus who swings a kick right through him like he was a ghost snarling "Baka...asshole...son of a bitch...I don't take orders from scum like you!"

Garuda react to this violently, catching a fist without looking then choking Titus in the air with one hand "There are ways to teach you proper respect for your elders, Titus...shall I demonstrate just how useless you are again...shall I make you my bitch again?!"

Titus remains silent and everyone looks stunned as Garuda's rotten temper simmers and he frees Titus before he kills him before disappearing like he was made of data "Don't keep me waiting...for his sake"

"I think I'll stay with you for a while longer, Cap'n..." Gedharm says as he'd already perused the library here when J'onn was still Ghoul Lord and was very curious about the 'Living Library' from the Slums which consisted of far more forbidden items that can only be read about in other places

* * *

 **The Group made they way back to the Crypt to find Bobby in Raiko's cell, inches from the Ghoul who was now fighting even more against his restraints...someone else was also there...the Ghoul Juggernaut, who was less than pleased to see Bobby in Raiko's cell or that Shin was out when he arrived**

"C'mon...get over here!" Raiko was inches from biting Bobby in the face as Juggernaut stood outside the Cell stoically, he's been away for so long that he'd forgotten some of the X-Men but not his vengeance against Xavier and Magneto, the men who broke him according to Dartz

"Ey, Icepick...you can play with Dartz' brother later...we have places to be" Gedharm says as Shin uses the Darkness to pull Iceman out of the cell

"About time you got here..." Juggernaut spoke for the first time since Bobby saw him here as he looked at Shin who said "I have a way for you to get a Tome of your own"

Juggernaut showed no visible reaction to this besides a nod "You seem less than happy about this...what is it?" Shin asked

"What do you care...I don't even see why you're trying to help me" Cain snarled as Shin confessed "I don't care...but I do wish to know how mighty the Ghoul Juggernaut has become...or will become"

Cain shrugged as he stared deeply into Victor's eyes but said to Dartz "Why are you here, Dartz...if it's for me, I won't come without a fight"

"We ain't here fer you, mate...we're only passin' through" Dartz said as Bobby scowled "You could've helped me, y'know, Juggernaut"

Juggernaut gave him a glare that silenced him "I will rip you in half, Iceman...I'm not in any mood for games...anyone who sides with Xavier or Magneto is no friend of mine"

Juggernaut was more than ready to fight as he looked at the other X-Men and Black Fangs but chose not to, he felt that he would disrespect Shin and Yakuzo by fighting in their prison, something he has done here before which caused him to end up fighting an inmate, Yakuzo and Shin at once and barely making it out alive, he returned and apologized but only Shin has forgiven him, Yakuzo barely wanting anything to do with him as long as he never fought again in the prison

"We're heading somewhere ye can let off all that steam, Cain-san" Baccus said as Juggernaut replied "I know...that's why I'm coming with you, Captain Baccus"

Baccus was surprised that he knew who he was as Titus interrupts "Are we done here...?"

"You seem quite adamant on us going there and leaving quickly, Mr. Titus..." Kitty says as Titus replied "I want Garuda...in pieces, I will free the Slums and my brothers...I really don't mind guiding you in and back out but would it kill ya to hurry up a little?"

"We're ready..." Dartz said once everyone was ready "Let's get outta here"

 **The group left the Prison for the Slums, little did they know they were being watched and followed by the very people Raiko warned them that they'd eventually cross paths with**

A man came down from the mountains wielding a Scythe and a large sword on his back, a bruting fellow was with him wielding an even bigger sword over his shoulder that seemed to have a revolving saw around it

"Shall we follow them, Echo?" The man, Jericho said to the larger man as Giriko looked into the prison and spotted Raiko and revving the saw on his sword in anger, they were using magic that made it impossible for them to be seen of heard by others "The Master is far too lenient on Raiko-san, he's lucky we can't enter that little funhouse prison and teach him a lesson"

Echo sighed, but his anger was very hard to quell as he grins sadistically "We're going...I can't let that overgrown monkey kill Garuda...the children of Azazel are also among them, I want them"

 **The two persued the Black Fangs/X-Men and remained far enough away that they couldn't be sensed but they knew they were being watched as well...by Garuda**

Garuda sat on his throne in the Slums, he true form was a hulking man slightly taller than Shin wearing a blackish-grey shirt and pants with the sleeves and legs cut in a zigzag pattern

Garuda's eyes were set on the X-Men and Titus as he thought of the prospect of having Titus at his side again...he had a set to complete and he was the final piece as he stared at his other piece, Yamato in chains and clearly not under Garuda's control

"Tell me...how does it feel to watch helplessly as your brother thought of only himself and left you here?" Garuda asks as Yamato remains silent and looks away but Garuda forced him to look at him "you could've gone in his place but chose to fight me instead to protect him knowing I wouldn't risk letting both of you out of here alive"

The white haired Binge Eater chose to answer by spitting in Garuda's face as Garuda seemed frozen by it for a bit before going into a fit of anger "You will learn your place here, even if I have to kill you in the process"

Garuda spun feverishly looking around his feet as he found a rock the he precedes to beat Yamato's face with it until it broke apart in his hands "I gave you all the drugs you needed, put my Garuda Force under your command and you repay me with betrayal?!"

By the time the rock was in pieces in Garuda's hand, Yamato was covered in blood as Garuda grinned evilly, whispering in his ear "I can't wait to see Titus' expression when he sees you like this...even better when he and his new friends join you here...leave him here to bleed" Garuda said to a man coming to help him as he bowed "Yes, my lord"

* * *

 **Elsewhere, Voorhees was still going at it with Grimm but Voorhees was quickly getting bored...and bad things happened to people who made Voorhees bored during a fight**

Grimm felt like they were being watched while Voorhees didn't care as long as they stayed out of their way as the two were covered in cuts, bruises and scratches and both dropped their magic to the weakest

The second Grimm noticed that they were being watched, Voorhees tossed a dagger in that direction without looking himself as a Ghoul with unnatural yellow eyes fell out of the bushes with Voorhees' dagger in his forehead "I don't suggest that you pay attention to anyone but me...I don't wish to break a promise I made to my Captain"

Grimm raises his magic a small amount, Voorhees does the same but with only a sliver more power than Grimm as the Ghoul with Voorhees' dagger in his forehead rose and said "Carry on with your battle to the death, I have no intention of intervening...but your friend, Kaizoku-san is on his way to see me and well..."

A large Orc walked out beside the Ghoul with one yellow eye and the other eye was it's original red color but blinded anyway with a scar over it "I've been dying to add to my Orc collection, but you guys have become so reclusive over the years...you two will make fine additions to the family"

"It seems we've garnered the attention of the Garuda Force...Dartz, what trouble have you gotten us into now?" Voorhees asked himself as he and Grimm disappeared and began bouncing around the forest and off each other

 **The possessed Orc suddenly forced himself free to see the Orc Chief fighting one of his sons, a look of rage coming over him as he snapped the head off the Ghoul beside him and began an unfinished glyph drawing on his own ribs before succumbing to Garuda's will again, Garuda praised Orcs for being harder for him to control than his own Ghoul brethren but not impossible**

* * *

 **A/N - The X-Men have garnered the attention of the master manipulator, Garuda who makes Titus guide them to him simply because he has Titus' brother...Garuda is pretty much the biggest threat now with Kami dead and has a personality very akin to Frieza from Dragonball Super...he's very evil, very good at it and will not stand for anyone standing in his way but also very manipulative and far stronger than most of the Ghoul Lords. Will Titus get his revenge and save his brother or will he, the Black Fangs and the X-Men join Titus' brother under Garuda's control? Find out next chapter!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Don't Be Afraid of the Dark - NEVER Make Fun Of The Pirate!**

 **Chapter** **4**

 **Dartz and the gang don't know that they're being followed by allies of his brother, Raiko yet...but they soon will as Voorhees is also rather familiar with one of these mysterious people**

Voorhees manages to beat Grimm down and knock him unconscious, but he didn't have time to make it all the way back to the ship then to Dartz and the others before they're dead...and he knew they were in trouble

Voorhees decides to draw a Glyph that opened a portal to the interior of his quarters back on the ship and tossed Grimm on his bed, his door was locked with Orc Magic and only himself and Baccus knew how to open it from the inside and no one was stupid enough to enter Voorhees' room without permission, so he wasn't worried about his son escaping no matter how smart he was or thought he was

He closed the portal as he saw the unfinished Glyph drawn into the possessed Orc's neck, he finished it for him and it activated on it's own, giving him control of his body again as he gasped, both eyes their original red as he jumped away from Voorhees, shocked "I-is that you, Lord Garland?"

Garland was the Orc Chief before Voorhees, he was Voorhees' father but he died when Voorhees was almost an adult, naming him the new and youngest Chief of his people with his dying breath...people thought Voorhees killed him and tried to deny him his birthright as the only of 40 siblings to outlive his masochistic and very prideful (both traits Voorhees inherited) in his own power, father but Voorhees was not one, despite his cruel nature to keep secrets from anyone, partially due to how terrible he was at keeping them...if he didn't tell you something, it was because he didn't see you as worthy of knowing that something

"Hn..." The Orc winced a bit but didn't move an inch as Voorhees finished the Glyph seal on his dark green, almost brown skin as he was asked "Make up your mind...stay here and die as a warrior, or live on as a free Orc...what will it be?"

"I will live...but I want revenge, that is the only demand I have" the Orc rose taller that Voorhees who scowled "I don't know if I appreciate the nerve, but so be it...if you can move and fight"

"I am Attilan, master archer...I pledge my Volk to you" Attilan showed his giant Bow, Volk to Voorhees as his eyes widened at both the Orc's name and the legendary weapon nearly as big as Attilan himself as he nodded "I sense another Orc among them, c'mon and don't drag your feet, Master Attilan" Attilan's Volk Longbow had no string attached to it or arrows, this had Voorhees curious as to how it functioned, especially in the hands of a Hunter like Attilan

Voorhees went off to find the others with a very calm Attilan easily keeping up with him, he was not as easy to anger as Voorhees but was a force to be reckoned when he did get angry

* * *

 **Back with Dartz and the others was a Orc, he was easily twice Voorhees' size and wielded no visible weapon...not that he wasn't still extremely dangerous for someone who could barely whisper, much less speak**

Everyone stops in their track at someone whistling, a whistle that very painful to anyone's ear, be it Human/Mutant, Ghoul, Orc or Beastkin

"Fucking hell!" Drakko snarled as everyone held their ears at the whistle and he sent a glare in the the direction of the sound, a large Orc finally stopped the whistling and glowered at the group as he signed one thing _**[You...are the ones who took down Raiko?]**_

Nic is the only one of them who fully understands Sign Language as he signed back _**[What business is that of yours...what if we are?]**_

The Orc gave a sadistic grin and raised his head enough for them to see the massive scar over his neck and throat _**[I appreciate the nerve of a human science experiment to sign something like that to me...I will remember you in looks, taste and all...translate to the one with the bandana that I want to mount him and Raiko as my trophies]**_

Nic looked mighty annoyed about this as he looked at Dartz "He wants you and Raiko-san...as his war trophies...he's mute...hence, that fucked up lookin' scar"

"Sometimes, I really wonder if you two are related by how potty your mouths are...you lack composure" Rogue says in growing annoyance as Nic asked "Of what use would composure be to a killer, should one not give nice things in order to receive them?"

"What does that even have to do with this...may I remind you that we have a Orc the size of a house in our way and I think he wants you to look at something, Rogue" Berserker says as Rogue looked at the Orc's only tattoo on his right shoulder of his own name in Orcish and in English as she said "I think that's his name...Roman?"

Roman was indeed this Orc's name or one of them anyway as he had many names but he preferred the names Roman or his given at birth name, Ukai as he disappeared like a blur and people started going down until he got to Dartz, who he sent flying with one punch before he could even block though Victor managed to catch him

Ukai/Roman was an Orc who fought with his bare hands and feet but he was more dangerous than most Orcs with weapons as he was as strong as he was fast without things like these, which was a hinderence to him anyway

Ukai staggered for a moment as he charged at Colossus, who was punching him left and right with Drakko as Scott and Renji shot at him from a distance, Jean would disable him telepathically but his mind was like a Trap door slammed shut and she honestly didn't care to know what he was thinking by the look in his purple eyes anyway as no attack was even fazing his battle worn and thick skin

He lunges at Berserker and Rogue again, determined to crush the rude girl between his teeth but a rain of arrows from his left sent him flying away from them

"Didja miss me?" Voorhees said as he stood in the distance with Attilan crouched at his side, his bow's intricate carvings glowing to life as he turns on Rogue, aiming at her until Voorhees growled and smacked him in the face with the back of his hand "That's my crew, don't fuckin' dare aim that thing at them without my permission...idiot"

Attillan didn't seem to care very much for Voorhees cussing him out as he turned on the other Orc's allies as he fired on them by touching the middle of the bow with his finger, then pulling an ethereal white energy from it all the way back and letting go, hundreds of white energy arrows raining down on them

Jericho and Echo didn't seem at all pleased about this as Echo could barely hold back his anger "Why is this no surprise...Raiko always spoke of this strong Dartz person, but he's even more useless than Raiko himself" he laughed madly as he revved the saw on his sword as a white energy moves from the hilt to the tip of the blade, he then swings the big sword with one hand, destroying the arrows with ease then again almost hitting the two Orcs

Echo then looked down to where Ukai fell "I don't like to be kept waiting, Master Ukai" this triggered Ukai to jump back up and grab an unsuspecting Rogue and Berserker again...initially grabbing Rogue before Berserker tried to save her only to be taken along

Echo then lunged at the two, but Voorhees got in the way as they both wore sadistic grins, Shin and a very moody Juggernaut tried to help them but the Scythe wielder, Jericho got in the way as his scythe had the unique trait of nullifying any magic-based attack and even a punch from an infuriated Ghoul Juggernaut was taken like nothing as he could take a punishment before he kills his enemies

Dartz became frenzied once he saw Ukai ready to retreat with the two X-Men for two reasons, Ukai picked the who time to mess with Rogue and two, he didn't know if Azazel would decide to just pop in to see his daughter kidnapped while in his care...he's pissed enough to even fight the Demon Lord right now as he shot white flames at the all but fire resistant Orc as he snarled "Get yer ass back here!"

The three disappear through strange portals (like Venjix in Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal), while Dartz went ballistic and Titus was barely able to pin him to a tree for Victor to slap some sense into him "Dartz, get a grip...I have a feeling this won't be the last we see of them...I won't let them get away with this"

Victor was even more prideful that the last time he and Dartz met, losing was a blow to both their prides as Dartz pushed him away easily despite being barely half Victor's size "I'm friggin' fine..." He lied as he aleady felt the mouthful Bane and Azazel might have for him should they learn of any of this...something he's determined to _NOT_ let happen

"We're almost there..." Titus said as he left and everyone followed, feeling rather gloomy and quiet as Dartz squeezed his eyes shut whispering "I'm not strong enough...I'm sorry" tears came to his eyes as he pushed Baccus away from trying to comfort him, neither Rogue nor Berserk...as he and Kakuzu called Berserker was any less important to him than the others

Voorhees came beside him and tried to comfort the Ghoul as well "This is my fault...if I had come sooner-"

"This is my fault and mine alone...ye tried yer best, all o' ya, but this is my burden...not yers, Voorhees, ye were no less useful that I was, clearly" Dartz said, a chilling feeling coming from his voice as Voors knew he hated losing the most of any member of the crew

Voorhees didn't say another word and nodded, despite not agreeing at all with it, Dartz never taught him to fight but was still a mentor figure to the nearly twice his age Orc, he even put his life on the line for Voorhees, something only few members of the crew could say proudly...this made Dartz mentally handicap himself by not using his full power in a fight, making him seem weaker than even Voorhees despite being far out of Voorhees' league

He made Voorhees a much better fighter by almost killing him at his fullest power, that's why Voorhees respects him...he has what Voorhees lacks, self-control as Vorhees asked "Ya alright?"

Dartz said nothing but shook his head that he was far from alright as they made it into the Slums finally and Titus scowled even deeper "Home bitter home...we're here, stay close and watch your asses...no one here is all that they seem"

 **Everyone nodded as while you may not see evil things coming your way back in the city until they come, they did not hide in the Slums as people stopped at nothing to get what they want here, especially if what they wanted was to leave which all of them wanted even if they chose not to be open about it...they also fear the Garuda Force, a group of the worst cutthroats Garuda had at his disposal as his law enforcers...a group that both Titus and his younger brother was a part of and rumor has it, his older brother was still a part of, at least as a means of avoiding Garuda himself. They also had their eyes on the Black Fangs right now, which only Titus seems aware of**

Titus stopped in his tracks, then looks behind them...clearly not in the mood to have Garuda eavesdropping on what he already knew, that Titus was here to kill him "All of you, get out here right flippin' now"

Dartz and Voorhees seemed well aware that they were here as well as Dartz said "ye heard him...come out here, while I still have my animal under control"

Voorhees growled as Dartz' hand was on his chest, only thing strong enough to stop Voorhees here was a death threat from Dartz or the thought of worse, fighting him in his current mood as Voorhees snarled "You picked the wrong day to fuck with us...Garuda's hench-monkeys"

Suddenly, blades flew towards Voorhees without warning, but Attilan shot them out of the air with his Volk "They're hiding...they're trying to see what we're capable of before making their move"

"Oh, they'll see soon enough..." Dartz said as they followed the sound of cheers and fighting to find Garuda's Lion's Den

"It seems someone hasn't learned what happens to those who can't hold their tongues yet" Daiji said as he appeared to be a bald Chinese monk "Here's a hint, Titus...since I know you're a little slow and frankly, stupid...they lose them" he seems to be the least dangerous of the group as he wasn't a physical fighter but had a multi-purpose flute with him that either immobilizes several adversaries, summons strange creatures or summons the other members of the Garuda Force to him depending on the song he plays (like Tayuya from Naruto)

 _'Koko ni kite, watashinokao ni sore o iu node, watashi wa anata no sono kuromudōmu o narabe kaeru koto ga dekimasu!'_ (Come down here and say that to my face, so I can rearrange that chrome dome of yours!) Titus snarled

"That's enough, Monkfish...this is as kind as I'll be if you continue insulting my brother" a hand on Daiji's shoulder stopped as he brought his flute up to play the last tune Titus would ever hear while Baccus put an arm in Titus' way, warning him less than subtly "Don't try it or you'll both answer to me" he said to both Titus and Dartz

"K-Kudon?" Titus said looking at his near unrecognizable older brother with surprise as nothing about him seemed recognizable other than his voice as he grinned taking a bag from his pocket with a his drugs from Garuda-sama and sniffed a handful of it in his palm, which felt like one was shot full of gun powder in it's much more potent powdered form and he stared at the pissed Titus "Ah, welcome home, nii-san"

"Where's Yamato nii-san, this place is no longer our home, I'm here to get you out of here" Titus said as four of the five Ghouls laughed and one of them disappeared as a woman appeared at Dartz' side, she was sexy but clearly in a type all her own as she appeared beside Dartz, hugging his arm, she was Yumiko and she wore a skin tight suit as she latched to his arm "Ooh, looks like you found me a husband too, thanks you...ooh and a side man too" she looked behind Dartz to Kommamura as he scowled at her

Both Ghouls were pretty clear that she was of no interest to them though as she focussed on Dartz, rubbing her hand on his bandana and attempting to seduce him, which only pissed him off even more "Got a name, handsome?"

Dartz grabbed Kitty by the waist and pulled her as close as possible to him "Already taken and even if I wasn't taken, yer barely even worth havin' a one night stand with...Yer too fragile"

Yumiko was annoyed "Fragile?!" But she was cut short by Dartz back handing her to the face, sending her into a tree with a sarcastic "Cap'n, I think me bad reflexes be actin' up again" while flexing his shoulder

"Yumiko...that's about enough of that" A Ghoul named Daichi said as he was the youngest but one of the strongest of the group, he had stern blue-green eyes and white hair "I'll ask Lord Garuda to give you one later"

Yumiko sneered at Kitty and grabbed Kommamura's butt as she came to her feet as he glared and almost punched her "fuckin' molester, keep your hands off me if you wish to keep them on your body!" He wasn't at all keen on her even being near him, let alone touching him

Daiji scowled, he only liked Yumiko when she was behaving herself and following orders, not being as overly seductive as her personality was before giving into Garuda as he scowled "Yumi, behave!" Playing his flute, his tune was beautiful but it wasn't all for show as it had Yumiko paralyzed, he was quite the charmer after all

Kommamura held his ears, but could still hear the music clearly...apparently that was pointless as he looked at Gedharm "I'll never disrespect your singing ever again, but _THAT_ is atrociously bad...also, I'd take Lady Tsu Chen, the only female Ghoul Lord of China over her any day, they're both the same but at least she's not fugly"

"Rude Wolfman, learn your place!" Daiji played a different tune paralyzing everyone as well as summoning large white creatures with no eyes but mouths full of fangs to attack

A hand on his shoulder stopped him, it was A and B...twin Ghouls that were known a deadly duo, they were also strong enough to probably rival Garuda on their own...if Garuda let them and were raised by Garuda just like the others alongside Titus and his two brothers but were always beaten around by either Garuda, who almost killed them each time or someone they tried to steal from in the Slums who would try to kill them unless Garuda came to their rescue

"Atachi...Butachi, better known as Ass wipe and Butthead" Titus said to the twins as he laughed at the irony "You two pieces of trash are still alive...I thought I warned ya to bury yourselves under a mountain...you're still dead weight even more now than when I was your leader"

Atachi, the twin with his hand on Daiji's head sank his nails in with frustration as Daiji clobbered him hard with his extremely hard flute and a glare, as he snarled "You conniving...you'll pay for leaving us for dead soon enough...that's my head, A and the next place I'll hit is your spine"

"Sorry..." A said holding his poor hand as another Ghoul, a member of Yamamoto's Hatake Clan named Yamori, he wasn't nearly as happy as Yamamoto and his lack of trust where Orcs and Beastkins were concerned didn't make things any better as Attilan had his Bow in his face already

Yamori smiles archaically and knowingly, he tried to make Lord Garuda kill the Orc on many occasions for nothing he personally did as he allowed the Archer to open his shirt to see an Orcish Seal known as the Heaven's Gate Seal, this seal eventually will kill him and send his soul to the Orc who put it on him, he thinks that Orc is Attillan as he sneered "You want my soul, Orc...I'll take your spine first"

"I am sorry for you...but I wasn't the one who placed that seal on you...Your soul is also useless to us both apparently" Attilan said as he touched the seal and instantly felt that strange mute Orc's power in it as he hasn't removed Volk from the Ghoul's throat "your anger is misguided, I will have the head of the Orc responsible for this however...even if it kills me"

"The same guy that took Berserker and Rogue?" Dartz puts two and two together as Attilan nodded without looking at him "That may be the one...this wasn't the intent for which this seal was created...usually the Orc branded with this seal was a traitor to his kind and would be killed before the seal could do anything"

Yamori scowled and pushed Attilan away "I gave you permission to look, not touch...take your eyes off me, Orc and you're dead"

Attilan rolled his eyes "I may feel fear, Ghoul but that doesn't mean I scare easily...I rarely miss a bullseye with my Bow either"

The Garuda Force took off as Dartz and Attilan share a look of confusion before some of them carried some of the X-Men as Beastkin, X-23, Wukong and Kurt were the only ones not as tired yet from their long journey thus far

* * *

 **At the Lion's Den, there were many things going on but the most important thing that had everyone's attention was a cage match going on, where those who can kill what or whoever comes out of a rift made by Garuda win a hefty prize and their kill...everything stopped however once the Black Fangs and the X-Men arrive however as they stuck out like a sore thumb**

Everyone went to find a seat as Kurt accidentally knocks over a Ghoul's cold water, the Ghoul got up and growled at him, suddenly he saw Voorhees and Attilan glaring at him, Voorhees wore a mad grin as his eyes glowed purple and Attilan showed no emotion as his eyes shimmered red

The Ghoul simply sat back down and grumbled as he let them pass "Well, that escalated quickly..." Kurt chuckles even though he almost just had a mini heart attack as Attilan lifted him onto his shoulder "You need to be more careful...hold on and don't try anything stupid"

"Like what?" Kurt dared to ask as Attilan poked his tail wrapped around his arm with his finger "like teleporting away with my arm"

"I won't..." Kurt assured him as Voorhees said "You're lucky that wasn't an Orc, otherwise he would be lookin' for a fight too"

"Ah, it seems our special guests have arrived..." Garuda said as Titus scowled and growled "Garuda...I could care less for your special treatment as long as I can send you to hell"

"A returning son from the outside as well...I thought I taught you better manners" Garuda sat on his throne as he raised a hand and Kurt began floating towards him, Dartz and Attilan holding him from flying straight to the sadistic war monger, who was part of two Binge Wars prior to the one Taeger was in, making him older than even the current Ghoul Lords by a bit

Titus was just about ready to lunge at Garuda but he stopped him "Oy, don't be so rash as to come at me, Titus-san...I know you too well for that to work and you might miss your brother's return to the fold..."

Everyone's attention went to the fighting cage where the illegal fights took place and Titus was shocked to see Yamato, Titus' other brother about to have a fight against one of Garuda's most bloodthirsty enslaved monsters, a Majin

"He won't win...much less survive this" Shin said, he has encountered Majins before and while they were naturally very happy and carefree creatures that hated violence, angering one of them will unleash a darkness in them, making them sadistic killing machines that loved killing almost as much as turning people into candy, they cry at eardrum shattering levels when they don't get what that want too, they shared their candy with those they respect as well but weren't trustworthy given that they're demons that live in the human world

This particular Majin had pink skin, a curled antenna on it's head that it used to turn people into candy and holes on it's head and chest that blew steam when he was mad, red ringed eyes on black sclera and the only clothes it wore were a pair of baggy white pants with a strange 'M' symbol that seems to be an attribute of Majins on the belt and black and white shoes

He was nearly twice Garuda's height and not very muscular as he looked up at Garuda who sneered "You may begin..." This made the Majin walk calmly closer to Yamato and crouch to his level as he could barely stand, let alone fight him which he didn't think was his concern

"My name is Majin Shinkan...what's yours?" The Majin said looming over Yamato who replied "You're gonna eat or kill me anyway...but I have no intention of giving you my name...go to hell"

Shinkan turned to the Black Fangs and put one hand over his face and the other pointing at Yamato crying "Aw, he won't tell Shinkan his name..." He suddenly went from crying to laughing as he looked at a pissed Titus through his fingers

"Shinkan will call you 'Butterscotch' then, my _favorite_ candy" Shinkan grinned showing his fangs as he played with Yamato's hair, never breaking eye contact with Titus "Interrupt my fun and I'll eat you up as well...try me"

As soon as he turned away however, Dartz threw one of his axes like a boomerang which sliced Shinkan's arm off "I thought you'd never ask...I'm making a substitute"

This distracted Garuda enough for Voorhees to place a seal on Collossus and Titus without either of them knowing before telling Attilan "Take aim...I wanna see what else that legendary weapon of yours can really do"

Attilan nodded and took aim "One clear shot is all I need" as Voorhees jumped into the air at Garuda with a sadistic scowl, he was still pretty mad about losing to that Orc that took Rogue and Berserker as he activated the seals he put on Collossus and Titus

As soon as Voorhees was above Garuda, he said "Piotr, Titan...now" as Piotr and Titus was teleported to his side thanks to his temporary seal on them

Piotr said "Let's do this" as he delivered a powerful punch to Garuda's face at the same time as Titus and Voorhees took his head off with their respective weapons as Titus glared at Voorhees "Oy, the name's Titus...get it right or the next head I chop off might be yours, Orc!"

Voorhees sneered "Yeah, like that'll ever happen...sure, you've become considerably stronger since we last met but not stronger than Dartz or my captain...hence, not worth my respect yet" he couldn't take someone who he perceived as weak in his eyes seriously

 **Meanwhile, Dartz found someone to take all his anger out on, but what still worried him was that Azazel may come unannounced, though he never gave the Demon Lord any reason to be displeased with his children in his care**

Dartz stood between Yamato and the Majin, but dropped his axes at his feet, which confuses the other two

"Oy, Baka...I'd pick those up if I were you, Majins are near indestructible and you just pissed that one off" Yamato warned Dartz for his own good as the Majin picked his amputated arm up and stuck it back on like chewing gum with Dartz reflecting in his eyes as he growled "You wanna be turned into candy too...fine...you first then everyone else here!"

Dartz clenched his fist, shaking with anger as he and Majin Shinkan walked closer to each other and punched each other full force, shaking the arena up but Shinkin overestimated how much Dartz could take in terms of punishment, especially when he was really pissed off and annoyed, like right now

"Does anybody else think this is too easy?" Bobby thought out loud as Voorhees said "the cruel evil and all powerful Garuda taken down so easily and yet my blade still has a taste for blood...yeah, this _is_ too damn easy"

Suddenly Kitty grabs Voorhees just in time for a poisoned blade to fly right through him as he says "finally decided to detatch yourself from Dartz' hip, I see..."

"I don't think this is over..." Kitty asks as she screams when Attilan fires his bow again, this time at the ceiling above them as an invisible Garuda was about to ambush them again saying "Garuda...why don't you just die already?!"

Garuda disappears again however as he appears right behind Attilan as blades protrude from the edges of his Volk and he swings at him but Garuda stops the weapon literally inches from him and grabs Kurt by his hair as he caresses Atillan's face, causing yellow to creep into his eyes again but he resists, irritating Garuda "Ooh, you Orc plainsfolk do really piss me off sometimes..."

Victor and the other X-Men attack him but he snaps and sends them all flying "Magic 101...Darkness and Fire created the most powerful Fire Magic on Earth, Amaterasu...Fire and Ice or Water made Taeger's Frozen Flame, Reien...so what do you think Darkness amd Wind would make?...Instead of telling you, how about I show you!"

Garuda tosses Kurt aside, he had an idea who his father was but felt more in the 'kill them all' mood than taking any hostages but has a better idea to make an example of him as he created a black hole that threatened to pull everything in "Time to make some real fur fly!" He laughs as he holds Kurt up in the air with one hand and simply let him go with a sarcastic "Oops, my hand must've slipped"

Kurt was about to die when a Beastkin swung in and caught him, no one knew the hooded figure was a Beastkin until he removed his hood to reveal a proud mane and a face of a Lion as he growled and placed Kurt down gently and said calmly and giving off the feeling that he was very proud "Careful...and take care of my body for a second, kid"

The Beastkin fell face first to the ground, almost crushing Kurt as the Elf asked "Is he okay?" Kurt dared to touch his face to see that he was no longer alive, making the Elf rather displeased with Garuda but decided taking care of this dead Beastkin was more important

 **Elsewhere, the Beastkin's spirit travelled to another Beastkin who had been watching the Black Fangs and X-Men since their arrival, his younger brother who was twice his size**

A Tiger Beastkin stood a the top of the stands where everyone was cheering on as Garuda was trying to murder everyone, he wasn't too thrilled about this...his fur was bright yellow with black stripes and his eyes glowed an ominous bronze as he folded his arms and watched them fight without missing a beat and bit away at a piece of his favorite Lemon Bread they brought from a merchant here that he didn't trust due to Garuda's people trying to kill them for their fur coats not long after

The Tiger Beastkin had custom blades that pop out strapped to both arms, he would use his natural claws but Garuda placed a curse on them that made them go from stronger than steel to more brittle and easily broken than human bones, he felt tremendous pain if they were broken even if he had a sickening pain tolerance and they grew back normally as his claw gauntlets popped out like Wolverine's claws, he was getting very excitied by this fight

He sensed his brother's spirit near him and spotted Kurt crying into his brother's mane...something he won't be happy about when he wakes up as he muffles a laugh until his brother's spirit snarled "Rakshasa, stop loafing around!"

Rakshasa choked "Excuse me...you know you could've simply called out to me instead of making the blue kid think Garuda just killed you, right, Linus?"

"I didn't want Garuda knowing we were _both_ alive yet" Linus said as Rakshasa said picking his teeth as he saw a scary glow in Kurt's eyes "the kid look pretty pissed now though...I'd get back to my body too, if I were you"

Daiji noticed Rakshasa acting weirdly, since he couldn't see or hear Linus' spirit, he began playing his flute as the Beastkin was about to leave his position, Rakshasa hated his music and heard him breath as he's about to play however, throwing a piece of Lemon Bread big enough to completely plug his flute "Have some lemoney Lemon Bread, baldy...that should keep you quiet for a while"

He then left to fight, hating things that got between him and a good fight, especially where Garuda and his croneies were concerned, as he dove at Garuda moving at great speed with yellow sparks coming from his body that didn't seem to be the same as electricity

Garuda has been experimenting on Beastkins and other creatures to find a way to traverse the Spirit World, Rakshasa and Linus were among the few Ghouls and Beastkins to survive, giving Linus the ability to have his spirit leave his body for a certain period before his heart would stop permanently and Rakshasa gained the ability to tell a person's intent by the colour of their aura as well as commune with spirits, only he can see and speak to Linus' spirit as well once it leaves his body, Garuda managed to trap the brothers in the spirit world, but instead of dying they were given new abilities and literally tossed out to their own world, where they never felt welcome to begin with...they didn't know or really care who or what in the Spirit World saved them or gave them these new powers

Drakko, feeling sympathy for Kurt and not trusting the other two Beastkins went over to Kurt "Hey, what the heck to ya think you're doin', kid...leave him before he wakes up and tears you limb from limb!" He scolded as Rakshasa said with a laugh "You must be mistaken...my big brother is not very ferocious despite his outward appearance, he's not gonna murder you as long as you don't get any more tears in his pride and joy mane than you already have"

"Big brother...no, you're twice his size so you _have_ to be older" Iceman says as he adds "He's a Lion and you're a Tiger...how are you even brothers to begin with?"

"Size or Species of Cat has nothing to do with it...He's older, I'm younger or have you not noticed that he's still huge...I get that all the time though" Rakshasa added as Linus woke up to see Kurt laying on his mane as he jumped away startled "hey, as cute as you are, kid...don't EVER cry into my mane again and can I get the names of that gruff yet cute bandana guy and the big sexy one?"

Linus had his eyes glued to Colossus and Dartz as Dartz joined them and avoided eye contact with him and Piotr was just confused and annoyed as Dartz glared "Cut that out and I'm already taken, I'm warnin' you"

Linus managed to grab a still confused Piotr's butt and rubbed Dartz' chest "hey, I'm gay and single...I haven't done it in a while either, so bite me if you think I care"

Dartz didn't bother removing his hand as he ignored the Beastkin even more now "Did I not just say I was taken, matey...Pheromones don't work on me either, so stop wasting your time...should I care if ya like men or women?"

"Smartass...it took you that little time to figure me out?" Linus asks as Rakshasa put his hand over his mouth "Stop already..."

"You were watching us since we got here...weren't you?" Voorhees asks "I knew I sensed someone strange while we fought...that strange Orc...until I'm sure you're not with _them_ , I'll be watching you...closely"

"Strange Orc...we did pass a particularly strange and outright ugly Orc on our way here, he had two dead humans with him...they had X symbols on their clothes" Rakshasa says as Dartz' rage flared, Garuda charged at them but Dartz snarled "Can't ya see we're in the middle o' somethin' here?!"

Dartz summoned his spirit, Glyph who easily held him back with all of Dartz' power and barely any of the Spirit's own as he summoned his other Spirit, Spritz to heal everyone but Garuda and himself "Heal everyone but me and Garuda"

Both his spirits seemed worried about this as Spritz asked in a cute voice "Are...you sure about that, Master?"

Glyph's head turned 360 as he looks at the others, beeping as usual before agreeing with Dartz and speaking in a commanding voice as the symbol on his face blinked with each word "Master is right, Pixie...your concerns should be healing everyone before him...do as you are told!"

"Whatever...and the name's Spritz, not Pixie!" Spritz sighed in annoyance as Glyph gave a rather rude "Your name...is too stupid for me to remember every time, you know"

"No arguing, you two!" Dartz snarled as the two stopped arguing and did as they were told as Spritz made dew appear in the air and fall on everyone but Dartz and Garuda, healing them as Dartz said in Latin to Glyph _'Gaia contritionem'_ (Gaia Breach) as Glyph beeped a few times and repeated what Dartz said, as his body hardened before focussing his energy into a bronze beam that was shot at Garuda, hitting him in the chest

Garuda overhears that they lost two of their own, which he somewhat already knew due to watching the group ever since their visit to the Crypt but as for where Berserker and Rogue are or who took them, even his vision was clouded, this really ticked Garuda off as they've come after him before as well

Garuda also isn't one to mess with or tick off, having earned the moniker of 'The Dark Ghoul Lord' as many others have tried to take the name for themselves, including Kami as he sneered, already way ahead of himself on how he'll betray them and regain his physical freedom from this place "Oy, Pirate...I can help you get back at those guys who attacked you - and yes, I may not have sent them after you myself or know who the hell sent them after you or me, for that matter, in the first place - but I can help you as long as you meet...certain conditions, seeing as the Kurosaki Massacre was shown to be a total fluke and mockery to such a _great_ clan"

He uses the word 'great' very loosely, as Kami was and still is the only person he hates more than anything as Dartz snarled "and what's that?"

"I want them to do something about this seal their prodigal pariah used to keep me here" Garuda again used the term 'prodigal pariah' very loosely again to describe Kami as everyone looked at each other thinking of what to do next, Titus was not pleased at all with playing nice with Garuda...mainly because Garuda didn't play nicely...especially with others

Garuda knew Titus too well for him to just up and trust him after the hell he put him through as he was never one to not have a contingency plan and he had several particularly for Titus who came between Dartz and Garuda only to take a healthy swing with his Death Axe at the Pirate who managed to dodge "Are ya mental, what're ya doin', mate?!"

"I should be askin' _you_ the same damn thing, Dartzy!" Titus snarls as Dartz glared at the infernal nickname Titus had for him "I didn't...come all the way here...to play nice...with the likes of _him_!" He glared into Garuda's eyes

Garuda mostly ignores this as he says to his men "Bring him out...I think I've finally found a use for him"

"Him who?" Dartz asks as the Ghouls brought out a body of a man as everyone realized that it was the body of their long deceased enemy...the master manipulator, Michael Darkstone as Garuda disappeared and Darkstone's eyes opened, eliciting a cringe from everyone but Rakshasa and Linus, who weren't involved in the fight against him that lead to his death and only gave Dartz more reason to not intervene in Bane's last fight against Kami, who Michael knew had already betrayed him, this didn't do wonders for Dartz' or Voorhees' mood either

* * *

 **Elsewhere, Shin and Juggernaut makes it to the Living Library...so far, it seems ordinary but nothing is as it seems here...**

"Wow...you should see this, teach" Juggernaut said to Shin as the door of the Living Library opened for them as a voice said, emanating probably from the Library itself, Juggernaut assumes given that it's called the Living Library (sort of like the voice when you start a Bejewelled game, but creepier) saying _**"Welcome to the Living Library..."**_

"Well, I do feel a presence here, if that's what you're implying...the magic here pulsates like a heartbeat" Shin says, being far more experienced than most people including Juggernaut in terms of sensing magic

"A heartbeat, huh?" Juggernaut liked to observe the blind Ghoul's actions and knew that if Ghouls already had senses beyond that of a human then Shin's abilities must be even more crazy than Ghouls he knew with sight "that's crazy...Living Library or not, a building doesn't possess a heart to be beating"

"True...but I hear breathing as well, do you really think you can hide from me, Sun?" Shin asks as Sun walks out reading a book "How long did it take for you to know I was following you...?"

Sun was still getting used to being free from the two worst Ghoul Lords of his generation...and he didn't even want to get started with Kami, he has vowed to never leave Shin's side again for the things he did and Shin agreed to kill him if he goes back on his word...he was itching to do it, actually

"I always know-" Shin was about to say but Sun stops his former friend "I already know how impossible it is to hide from you, Shin...I was talking to him, not you" he points at Juggernaut

Sun and Cain Marko was _not_ friends...in fact, Shin knew that they more than openly hated one another because Sun reminds him of Xavier, which caused him to nearly get into a fight with the Ghoul Lord of Russia, Lord Vlad for him calling the Ghoul Lord out and a spitting image of Kami, Xavier and Magneto

Juggernaut wanted to kill Sun on the spot for merely talking to him but chose to ignore him as he explored the Library "Hey, Library...do you sell Wind, Dark and Fire Tomes?"

 _ **"Yes...Tomes of all rarities and elements are sold here at reasonable prices...you may have yours for free"**_ The Library answered as arrows directed them to their desired location and an infinite amount of Tomes were found and catalogued by elemental affinity as Shin asked "Free...why and can I get access to your R-Section?"

 _ **"If you wish..."**_ This was the Library's only reply, making Shin believe something wasn't right as he dared his luck further "Are you an ally of this man...Garuda?"

 _ **"Knowledge has no ally or enemy...I do express a desire to be moved to a more...hospitable location, however"**_ the Library said as the three Ghouls looked at each other as Sun asks "Moved...how the hell are the three of us supposed to _move_ a practically _endless_ and one of a kind Library to God knows wherever?!"

"Sun!" Shin snapped very angrily before going into a forced calm "Show some respect...besides, I think the Library itself may hold the answer to it's own problem"

Sun watched Shin carefully, the silent giant wasn't nearly the easiest person to anger but it seemed that everything Sun did brought him closer to a breaking point where he'd end up dead or worse and everyone knew there were worse things Shin could do than killing as he loved to cause pain and was even better at it than the Torturer, Guren whose job it was to cause others pain, he was very clear when he said that he'd never forgive anyone who dared to harm Bane Asakura who was nearly killed by Sun as a kid and was an adult now but Shin still wasn't willing to trust him that much ever again

"Do _you_ have an idea how to help us help you get out of here then?" Sun asked the Library as a book came flying toward Sun, clocking him in the back of the head before the pages opened showing a strange but surprisingly infinite item called an Infinity Cube or InfiniCube as Sun was shocked "Wow...how the hell do you expect us to make that?!"

Shin suddenly punches him in the face, taking the book as he was sent flying to Juggernaut's feet...the pages turned to Braille as he touched them to read "Huh...this usually would take several Ghoul Lord-level Ghouls to make...the three of us should be able to make it, a Hybrid and two Ghouls beyond the power of a Ghoul Lord"

"Tell me you're ready...and joking" Sun scowled as Juggernaut activates his Kakugan with a sadistic grin "This sounds dangerous, but I think I'm ready"

"Indeed..." Shin grins as they began research on how they were going to do this with books found for them by The Library itself

* * *

 **Elsewhere, Berserker and Rogue were thrown into a large room that can only be accessed by making an exit with Earth Magic and the only person with Earth Magic in the room was in a Charged Demonite cage that was imbued with a ton of Lightning Magic somehow, strong enough to pack a punch without killing him...not that he'd be willing to help them anyway when he could kill everyone**

Berserker and Rogue woke up in a large room with other strangers, some of which were Hybrids...not like Bane Asakura who was born a Hybrid but through their genes being forcibly meddled with against their will to study if an artificial Ghoul/Mutant Hybrid can be made

Rogue was taken specifically because of her powers while Berserker was taken because he tried to play the hero or to see who would be the case if he was injected with Ghoul or Orc pure genes, but there were a few dying or already dead Ghouls and Orcs whose bodies were incompatible with an X-Gene that was created by a brilliant Human scientist that was a Surrogate to one of the people who took Rogue and Berserker

"Look..." Berserker directed Rogue's attention to the Ghoul sitting in the back of the cage glaring at the two before smirking darkly with his head down slightly and curiosity got the better of Rogue as she cautiously got closer to the cage only for the Ghoul to lunge at them and almost grab them by the face...only getting a bit of Rogue's hair which he sniffed, then proceeded to eat

His name was Juūgo...and he wasn't called Wild Juūgo, the Animal for nothing, being the most powerful but least sane or willing to care for anyone but himself here

The two young mutants cringed at the sight of this as Juūgo's clan was said to be the ones gifted with the Sage Powers of the Elder Spirits, but not nearly the same control that the Elder Spirits show, as Juūgo and his Wild Juūgo personality was opposite sides of the same coin as Juūgo was by nature, very cowardly, quiet and avoided a fight at every chance he got...Wild Juūgo was as the name suggests...wild, sadistic, loud, confrontational and will always be looking for a fight, he had equal intelligence as his more sane counterpart too but finds it bothersome to use in a fight anyway

Juūgo glared at the two as he remained seated at the back of the cage as he grinned madly as his skin on the left side of his face was normal but on his right side began to darken to a deathly black as his orange hair and eyes darkened with his natural Curse Mark abilities, which makes him all but immune to all curses being laid on him and naturally stronger that most normal Ghouls, even other Binge Eaters

Juūgo looked at an Orc near his cage, not knowing English and seeking a translator...the Orc wasn't even Japanese but had a knack for translating old languages to languages spoken today including his native Orcish prior to being kidnapped and experimented upon like Rogue and Berserker will soon learn _'Watashi wa karera to hanashi o shitai nodesuga, hon'yaku shite mo īdesu ka?'_ (I want to talk to them, care to translate?)

The Orc, Aran, was surprised by this as Juūgo has been all but cold to them, believing them only to be failed copies of him due to their lack of control of their new abilities given by his blood, even compared to his own, which lacked control in it's own right

"Why should I trust you...the last time I almost got killed...twice" Aran said as Juūgo said with completely fake innocence _'Watashi wa anata no kao ni kamitsukanai koto o yakusoku shimasu. Aran, watashi no yūjin'_ (I promise not to bite you in the face, my friend, Aran)

"We're not friends...and you never did that" Aran said, keeping his distance should that become a reality as he said _'Anata futari... Anatahadare de nani o shite imasu... Watashi wa anata kara no osore mo shōjo kara no mahō mo kanjimasen, anata wa ningendesu ka?'_ (You two...who and what are you...I sense no fear from you and magic from the girl, are you humans?) And Aran translated it to the two young X-Men looked at each other

"We're mutants...and she's the daughter of Lord Azazel why you can sense magic from her" Berserker said, looking Juūgo dead in the eye as everyone looked shocked or scared...Azazel's wrath was known far and wide after what Michael Darkstone did to Azazel's children and their friends before being turned on and killed by one of his own, Kami once it was clear that his death was imminent by the hands of Sabertooth and Wolverine anyway

The X-Men offered Ghouls, Orcs, Beastkins and all sorts of magic weilders a home among humankind as long as peace was possible and there were rumors that a city was being built as a sign of this peace with the help of a Ghoul Lord, Kami's father, Ryujin and the entire might of several Clans including the Ghouls' Kurosaki, Uzushio and Asakura Clans, The Beastkin's Orders of the Red Lotus, White Lotus and Yellow Lotus as well as their Orders of the Claw (which Drakko is a part of and should be the head of, instead of the Council he made to rule in his place) and Fang respectively and the Orcs' Sun and Moon Clans as well as the near two and a half million Orcs that serves Lord Voorhees' Starlight Clan

Juūgo gestures for the two to come close to him, Berserker was clearly not trusting of this and put his arm in Rogue's way until Aran said "He won't hurt you...I don't think even this cage could stop him if he wanted to though...it's electrified with Lightning Magic a lot of it"

"Wow...that's reassuring" Berserker said as Juūgo attacked the cage, only to be flung back with second degree burns that healed but long lasting sparks of electricity that were the least enjoyable to see or feel

The two came up to the cage and Juūgo put his hand near where he ripped out Rogue's hair earlier, a feint green glow making her hair regrow to how it was before turning their attention to a large, green mechanical spider on a wall watching them

This Spider was in fact a spirit, one of many Ukai has taken forced ownership of and was called Arachno, the Watcher of Chaos as an bloodshot bright red eye opened on it's back and stared around before focussing on the two X-Men

Arachno jumped from the wall to the ground, growing from the size of a tiny Chihuahua to the size of The Hulk as it bared it's large fangs, dripping a clear venom that was far unlike that of normal spiders as it can kill a being's soul as easily as straight up just taking someone's life...the soul will also become damned, unable to cross to heaven or hell as it's front legs were sharp enough to slice through most things, including pure Adamantium

It came here to test Rogue and Berserker...consume them if they fail to stand up to it's stronger than most known metal webs or it's unique venom as the six eyes on it's head opened and closed like a scope but a golden chain smacked the spirit into a wall, not really fazing the fearless creature as despite not being the most powerful of the Chaos Spirits, he was still able to kill Bane's spirit, Bastion...an Elder Spirit, if they fought seriously and has clawed it's way out of other dimensions before

"Hey...don't come near my patients or I'll squash you, bug and I could care less who your master is" a voice said as an Orcish doctor appeared behind Juūgo's cage choking him from behind, he was wearing a white lab coat "Now...behave, animal or I might have to rough you up!"

This Orc Doctor was Talos and he was more of a mad scientist with a streak for taking more lives than he saved, he pulled out a large needle as Juūgo began struggling even more from the twice his size Orc as his ember eyes glowed "I don't fear animals...fiercer animals than you have been my dinner"

This was enough for the already angry Berserker as he said "I hope he understands English better than speaking it...Juūgo, brace yourself!" He took off before Rogue could stop him, jumping to the top of the cage and charging it with his powers, knocking Talos back before he could take Juūgo's blood "Don't touch my friend!"

"He's not your friend...you just met, ah, I've never seen you two before, must be the young mutant I needed for my experiments" Talos smiled evilly "I can't help it...being a bit narcissistic with my new toy"

He sat up and immediately made eye contact with Rogue before she screamed "Ray, look out" but it was too late as Talos jumped up to his level and used an ability he gained after years of experimentation on himself as his fist grew to nearly the size of Berzerker's body to punch him

He blocked it but was thrown hard against the wall, he'd heard that Ukai wanted the two alive and untainted by his so called sorcery but he wasn't pleased about his needle being broken...as he had need for more of Juūgo's and now, their blood for his experiments as he slipped behind Rogue and grabbed her, licking her cheek with his black tongue "So lucky you are...Lord Ukai wants you alive...untainted"

"Ukai?!" Berzerker snapped, both remembering the mute savage that took them and nearly killed them and their friends...particularly Dartz, who seemed to be one of their main targets

Rogue slips off her glove and kissed the Orc while touching him when he least expected it, weakening him and stealing whatever powers and memories he has, including the way out

"We're out of here..." Rogue said as she now knew how to get out of here as with one punch, Juūgo's cage was in pieces "Let's go before one of those psychopaths show up"

Juūgo decides that he wouldn't kill the X-Men, especially Rogue if he had any plans of getting out of here at all as he caught Berserker as he fell as Rogue touched the wall "It should be around here somewhere...I hope"

She found the special magical switch to open a door anywhere but the wall opened on it's own with Ukai standing there _**"What do we have here...?"**_ He signed as Juūgo did everything he could to get to the Orc and bleed him dry just like their Witch Doctor nearly did to him

Even Wild Juūgo knew better than to be reckless while fighting a monster among monsters like Ukai who went for Rogue first but was stopped by a powerful attack from a weakened Ray who he goes after instead

Berzerker would give his life for his friends...even if he would much rather die anywhere but here against Ukai and Rogue knew that and admired it but she knew that Dartz especially would be destroyed if he dies as he respects him as a fighter more than anything since the first time he stood up to him and fought him

Suddenly, the wall burst open next to Ray with a burst of white sparks that seemed to hurt Ukai but not Ray as a warrior know as Oktai 'Jullius' Khan who was nearly the same size as Ukai and simply exuded power as he brought his sword down on the Orc, knocking him away as his eye slowly turned to Berzerker as he turned to leave "You will not die a warrior's death today, young one...come" his voice was deep and lacked emotion

He turned to leave, not looking back...he didn't care if they trusted him but he was an old 'acquaintance' of Bane Asakura and while he didn't really know or care to know the X-Men, they saved the world from Michael Darkstone and while he could tell that killing was not in their nature, hence their avoidance of it at all costs, he couldn't let them die

He turned to leave as Ukai was going to be down for a while but not out as Rogue could see that he was still breathing as Juūgo grabbed her and jumped to the whole made by Oktai

It was quick to see that Juūgo didn't trust this Ghoul as he asked _'Anata no namae wa…'_ (Your name...what is it?)

The Mongolian glared at him but seemed distracted by something else _'Ta üüniig udakhgüi medej bolno ... Ta zöv olsonykhoo daraa, yamar ch khor khönöölgüi gesen üg'_ (You will know it soon enough...once you've earned the right, I mean you no harm however)

He put away his spear and drew his dual swords "I am doing this as a debt to a friend...Bane Asakura, be ready for these people won't allow us to depart from here alive"

"You know Bane...how come he's never told us anything about you?" Berzerker asks as Oktai said "because it's none of your business and I personally told him that he was forbidden from doing so or I'd get angry with him...he knows better than to anger me"

"That's weird..." Berzerker says until Rogue draws his attention to something concerning the Ghoul/Human peace that Voorhees didn't like...that not all creatures cared for the company of a human to begin with "Think about what Voorhees said...not everyone will be willing for peace with human, since they have their own families to protect too"

"You don't trust us, do you?" Rogue asks Oktai who replies "I don't trust the weak...growing stronger is the only way to earn any respect from me and your means of doing that doesn't matter or concern me either"

"Strength isn't everything..." Berzerker seems to be quoting Logan but Oktai saw things much differently "It is...when it is all you have to rely on...stand back"

Oktai broke through a wall but found that while they were out of the facility, they were in the Dark Dimension and touching anything here would kill them, so he uses magic to create a portal back to the Human World and heard noises behind them, seeing Ukai far off with Arachno in front of him

"Go!" Oktai said as everyone shuffled into the portal but him as he threw Juūgo through it just to make sure he did so "I will join you..."

 _ **"No, you won't"**_ Ukai signed as the two X-Men snarled together "We're not leaving you!"

"I have more than a bone to pick with this guy" Berzerker said as Rogue said "just wait 'til my father hears about this..."

Oktai could tell that these two were no strangers to fight odds greater than they can handle, even though this was neither the time not the place and he hated running as he grabbed the two and threw himself into the portal, which closed immediately

* * *

 **Everyone is unconscious but alive in the Human world on a strange island but they were being watched...**

A finely dressed Lynx Beastkin known as Lynk found their bodies but didn't get near them, he saw them as trespassers on his island and was tempted to drag them out to sea and drown them all before they woke up, but he decided to leave them and watch them like a hawk...their survival chances here were slim anyway, even if they weren't as weak hearted as they looked and he had no intention of leaving this large island not to far off Hawaii

* * *

 **A/N - Rogue and Berzerker evade death thanks to a stranger's help but Dartz and the gang already know about this island (as it was their original destination before it was changed to Japan) but can they survive sharing a ship with Garuda in Michael Darkstone's body without someone daring to try to kill him or throw him overboard and how does Oktai know Bane? More on that next chapter!**


End file.
